A Russian drone wounded two people after it crashed into an apartment building in eastern Romania, the local defense ministry said Friday, coming amid a broader uptick of both Russian and Ukrainian drones straying into the airspace of NATO members as the two countries continue attacks on each other.
“During the night of May 28-29, the Russian Federation resumed drone attacks on civilian and infrastructure targets in Ukraine, near the river border with Romania,” Romania’s defense ministry said in a statement.
“One of these drones entered Romanian airspace, was tracked by radar as far as the southern part of the city of Galati and crashed onto the roof of an apartment building, with the impact triggering a fire,” the statement added.
Emergency services have since put out the blaze, and the two wounded individuals were hospitalized.
There was no immediate response from Russia.
Galati, a city of more than 200,000 people, is located right across the border from southern Ukraine and Moldova.
Romania said the drone crash “represents a serious and irresponsible escalation on the part of the Russian Federation,” adding that it had informed the NATO secretary general about the incident and “requested measures to accelerate the transfer of anti-drone capabilities to Romania.”
While drone incursions have been detected in Romania dozens of times since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, the latest incident marks the first time a stray drone has hit a residential building.
Romania’s military scrambled two F-16 fighter jets immediately after the aerial targets were detected in the country’s airspace.
The cross-border incident coincided with a nationwide air raid alert issued in neighboring Ukraine overnight in anticipation of Russian strikes. Authorities in southern Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia reported that at least two people were wounded following attacks there.
AFP contributed reporting.
