Russian drone penetrates Romanian airspace (~50 min)

On 13 September 2025, a drone of the type Russia uses in its strikes against Ukraine penetrated Romanian airspace during a Russian attack on neighbouring Ukrainian territory across the Danube. According to the Romanian Ministry of National Defence (MApN), the drone entered national airspace at 6:05 p.m. local time and lingered for roughly 50 minutes, tracing a path over the Danube Delta from north-east of Chilia Veche toward south-west of Izmail before leaving Romanian airspace near the town of Pardina, heading back toward Ukraine.

Two Romanian F-16 fighter jets that were already conducting an air patrol mission over northern Dobruja intercepted the drone and maintained intermittent visual and radar contact throughout its flight. The pilots received authorization to shoot the drone down, but at the moments when they had direct contact they assessed the collateral risk to people on the ground and decided not to open fire. Two German Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft, deployed to the Mihail Kogalniceanu air base as part of NATO air policing, were also scrambled in support and monitored the area until about 9:30 p.m.

Romanian authorities condemned the incursion. The MApN stated that such incidents demonstrate the Russian Federation's lack of respect for international law and endanger both Romanian citizens and NATO's collective security. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the drone had operated in NATO airspace for about 50 minutes, characterising the episode as part of a widening of the war. The incident came days after a much larger wave of Russian drones violated Polish airspace.

The drone's identification as a Russian Geran type and its entry during a Russian strike on Ukraine make the Russian origin well supported, and Romania and Ukraine attributed it to Russia. Whether the incursion into NATO territory was deliberate or a navigational spillover from the Ukraine strike remains officially unproven, and Western officials publicly differed on intent. The event fits a documented and recurring pattern of Russian drones violating Romanian and wider NATO airspace during attacks on Ukraine, including a separate Romanian incursion and the September 2025 mass drone breach over Poland.