Romania becomes the second NATO country to detect Russian drones in airspace

Romania says that a Russian drone has violated its airspace – the second NATO country to report such a foray.

Romanian fighter planes were in the air supervising a Russian attack on Ukraine on Saturday and were able to follow the drone near the southern border of Ukraine, the Ministry of Defense said in a statement.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said that the foray could not be an error – it was “an obvious expansion of war by Russia”. Moscow did not comment on Romanian claims.

Poland on Wednesday said it had shot at least three Russian drones that had entered its airspace.

In its declaration, the Department of Defense of Romania said it had detected the Russian drone when two F-16 planes watched the border of their country with Ukraine, after “Russian air attacks against Ukrainian infrastructure on the Danube”.

The drone was detected 20 km (12.4 miles) southwest of the village of Chilia Vche, before disappearing from the radar.

But he did not fly over the populated areas or posed an imminent danger, said the ministry.

Poland also responded to concerns about Russian drones on Saturday.

“Polish and Allied aviation preventive operations – began in our airspace,” said Prime Minister Donald Tusk in a position on X.

“The ground air defense systems have reached the highest preparation state of preparation.”

Earlier this week, the Ministry of Defense of Russia said that there was “no planned” to target the facilities on Polish soil.

The Bélarus, a close Russian ally, said that drones that entered Polish airspace on Wednesday was an accident after their navigation systems were blocked.

On Sunday, the Czech Republic announced that it had sent a special operations helicopter unit to Poland.

The unit consists of three mid -71s helicopters, each capable of transporting up to 24 people and including complete combat equipment.

This decision is in response to the Russian foray into the eastern NATO flank, said Czech Defense Minister Jana Cernochova.

In response to the last incursion of the drone, President Zelensky said that the Russian army “knows exactly where their drones are heading and how long they can operate in the air.”

He has always asked Western countries to strengthen sanctions against Moscow.

US President Donald Trump also weighed on a violation of airspace earlier this week, saying that he was “ready” to impose more strict sanctions on Russia, but only if NATO countries met certain conditions, such as stopping the purchase of Russian oil.

Russia launched a large -scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and increased slow on the battlefield.

Trump made efforts to end the war, but Russia has intensified attacks on Ukraine since President Vladimir Putin returned from a summit with Trump in Alaska last month.