Russia violates airspace of another NATO country, this time drones reach Romania

Romania, a NATO and EU member, warned over the weekend that a Russian drone breached its airspace, just three days after 19 Moscow aircraft invaded Polish skies, another Atlantic Alliance partner.

Romanian authorities specified that the aircraft violated the country's airspace during a Russian attack on infrastructure in neighboring Ukraine, invaded by Moscow in February 2022.

The army in Bucharest sent two F-16s to monitor the situation, the Defense Ministry explained in a statement. The planes "detected a drone in national airspace" and tracked it until it "disappeared from radar," it added.

The drone "did not fly over populated areas and did not pose an imminent threat to the safety of the population," the official notice specified.

The drone intrusion into Poland was the first of its kind in that country since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

NATO on alert over Moscow's position

The intrusion of the device came after Poland reported last Wednesday the entry into its airspace of 19 drones, where at least three of them were shot down with NATO assistance.

The new incursion generated alert on the eastern flank of the Atlantic Alliance. Over the weekend, both Poland and NATO deployed helicopters and fighter jets over some Russian drone bombings in Ukraine, not far from the Polish border.

"Due to the threat of unmanned aerial vehicle [drone] bombings in the regions of Ukraine bordering the Republic of Poland (...), there are Polish and allied aircraft operating in our airspace, and ground air defense and radar reconnaissance systems reached their maximum alert level," the operational command of the Polish Armed Forces wrote on X.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk also alluded on X to "the threat posed by Russian drones operating over Ukraine near the Polish border," and said its ground-based air defense systems had reached the maximum alert level .

Airspace at Lublin airport in the southeast of the European country was closed and several flights had to be diverted or suffered delays.

Tusk said hours later that the alert had been lifted, but stressed that the country remained vigilant to any threat.

Romania warns Russian drone intrusion poses 'new challenge' to security

Romania warned that Moscow's actions pose a "new challenge" to security in the Black Sea.

In a statement, the NATO member country "strongly condemns the irresponsible actions of the Russian Federation and underlines that they represent a new challenge to security and regional stability in the Black Sea area."

"This kind of incident demonstrates the Russian Federation's lack of respect for international law," added its Defense Ministry.

Romanian Foreign Minister Toiu Oana reported on private television Digi 24 that the Russian ambassador in Bucharest, Vladimir Lipaev, had been summoned to "clearly communicate Romania's protest" over the drone intrusion.

Russia blames Ukraine for drone intrusion in Romania

The Russian embassy in Bucharest claimed that the incursion of a drone into Romanian airspace this weekend was a "provocation" by Ukraine, after the Russian ambassador was summoned to the Romanian chancellery over the incident.

Russian Ambassador Vladimir Lipayev said Bucharest's claim that Russia was responsible for the intrusion was "baseless."

"The facts suggest that it was a deliberate provocation by the Kyiv regime," the embassy said in a statement Sunday night, adding that Bucharest did not respond "convincingly" to questions raised by Moscow.