WNAM MONITORING: A drone crashed into the roof of a 10-storey apartment block in the south-eastern Romanian city of Galati during a Russian overnight attack on neighbouring Ukraine, Romanian authorities said. The impact caused an explosion and a fire that injured two people and forced residents to evacuate.
Romania, a member of NATO and the European Union, shares a 650-kilometre land border with Ukraine. The Romanian defence ministry said Russian drones have breached the country’s airspace 28 times since Moscow began attacking Ukrainian ports across the Danube River.
Friday’s incident was the first time a drone had struck a densely populated area in Romania and caused injuries. The event is likely to increase tensions on NATO’s eastern flank as Ukraine’s allies remain concerned about the war spreading beyond Ukraine’s borders.
The defence ministry said drone fragments have fallen in Romania 47 times. Romania has previously recorded incidents linked to Russian attacks on Ukraine, particularly near the Danube border area.
Romania’s emergency response agency said a fire broke out in a 10th-floor apartment after the drone hit the building’s roof and exploded. It said the drone’s entire explosive payload detonated, but the fire was later extinguished.
The agency said two people were receiving medical treatment on site and that 70 people had evacuated. State news agency Agerpres cited Galati’s emergency response agency as saying a woman and her child had been taken to hospital with minor injuries, while two others were treated on site for panic attacks.
Deputy Interior Minister Raed Arafat, who oversees Romania’s emergency response agency, told private broadcaster Digi24 that the drone affected two building stairwells. He also said five cars were damaged.
In a separate incident, a drone without an explosive charge was reportedly found near Basesti in Maramures county in north-western Romania. State broadcaster TVR said late on Thursday, citing local authorities, that the area had been secured.
Authorities were investigating the origin of the drone and how it came to be in the area. TVR said the drone had a wingspan of about three metres.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a post on X that a Russian drone strike in Romania marked another escalation of the war. She expressed solidarity with Bucharest and warned of further EU pressure on Moscow, including a new sanctions package.
Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski told Reuters that Russia remained a threat regardless of the circumstances of the reported drone incident in Romania. He also expressed solidarity with Bucharest.
‘Regardless of whether it was on purpose or the result of ineptitude, Russia is still dangerous and we must defend ourselves against it,’ Sikorski said.
Galati was previously hit in April, when a drone damaged an electricity pole and a household annex. Officials temporarily evacuated people nearby and recovered the drone before detonating its unexploded payload in a remote location.
