NATO member Romania says more Russian drone debris from the Ukraine war has landed on its territory

BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — Debris from what is believed to be a Russian drone landed in a rural area of Romania, the country’s Defense Ministry said Thursday, in the latest apparent incident of drone wreckage from the war in neighboring Ukraine falling onto the NATO member’s soil.

Since the war started in February 2022, Romania has confirmed drone fragments on its territory on several occasions.

The debris of what the Defense Ministry called a “Russia origin” drone were found following Russian attacks on Ukraine’s port infrastructure near the border.

A statement said the fragments were discovered by a team of specialists in an uninhabited area near the village of Plauru in Tulcea county, which is across the Danube River from the Ukrainian port of Izmail.

The discovery came after Russia carried out overnight attacks on “civilian targets and port infrastructure” in Ukraine over the past two nights, the ministry said. Those assaults prompted Romania to deploy warplanes to monitor its airspace.

The ministry strongly condemned the Russian attacks, calling them “unjustified and in serious contradiction with the norms of international law.”

Romania’s emergency authorities issued text alerts both nights to residents living in Tulcea, and NATO allies were kept informed, the ministry said.