Romania says Spanish F-18 shot down airspace-violating drone

Romania says a Spanish F-18 fighter taking part in NATO’s air policing mission shot down a drone that entered Romanian airspace from Moldova, LRT reports.

The drone’s country of origin was not disclosed. Romania’s Defence Ministry said the unmanned aircraft entered the country at 5:01 a.m.

Wreckage fell in an uninhabited area of Galați County, near the border with Ukraine, the ministry said.

Last month, Romania shot down a drone that had entered its airspace about 100 kilometres from the capital, Bucharest. It was the country’s first such incident since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Similar incidents have been reported in other countries on NATO’s eastern flank, including Poland and the Baltic states. On Friday, NATO said Italian fighter jets taking part in the alliance’s airspace surveillance mission shot down a drone that had entered Latvian airspace. It was the fourth time this year that a drone had violated Latvia’s airspace.

Romania shares more than 600 kilometres of border with Ukraine.