Romania says it shot down second drone in two days

Romania said it shot down a drone in its airspace on Saturday, the second such action in two days and the second time since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Defence minister Radu Miruta said the drone had illegally entered Romanian airspace. He said Ministry of National Defence radars detected it entering the country at 8:22 am local time and that a Romanian F-16 fighter jet struck it a few minutes later, at 8:34 am.

Miruta said the drone was shot down 9.6 kilometres west of Sfantu Gheorghe in the Danube Delta, near the border with Ukraine.

Romania, a NATO member that borders Ukraine, has reported frequent drone incursions since 2022, including drones crashing on its territory. Its forces shot down a drone for the first time on Friday about 114 kilometres from Bucharest.

A drone hit an apartment building in Romania in May, wounding two people. NATO and the European Union condemned that incident, blamed Russia and warned against further incursions.

Romania's parliament adopted a law in 2025 allowing the country to shoot down drones that breach its airspace.

EU chief Ursula von der Leyen said on Friday that strengthening defence and deterrence along the EU's eastern border remained a top priority, and commended the Romanian military.