Romania's Defence Ministry (MApN) announced on Wednesday that Romania's airspace was not violated by the drones used by Russia to attack Ukrainian settlements on the banks of the Danube, the Romanian-Ukrainian border, the previous night, and that prior approval was granted for the shooting down of the air targets that would have entered the national airspace.
Early on Wednesday morning, the MApN surveillance systems identified a group of drones that were moving on the Chilia branch of the Danube, Danube Delta, and according to the procedures, two F-16 aircraft from the 86th Borcea Air Base took off, around 00:50hrs to monitor the situation.
"About 10 explosions were reported on the Ukrainian side, in the area of Ismail and Chilia, but no unmanned aerial vehicles were detected in Romania's airspace. The mission commander had the prior approval for shooting down air targets, had they entered the national airspace and endangered the security of the citizens of Romania," according to MApN.
At around 02:35hrs, two German Eurofighter Typhoon fighter aircraft took off from the 57th Mihail Kogalniceanu Air Base on a reinforced air policing missions, and at 03:50hrs, the aircraft returned safely to the air bases in Romania.
"A team made up of specialists from the Ministry of National Defence, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and the Romanian Intelligence Service (SRI) will carry out on Wednesday, October 22, a search mission to the area on the Romanian bank of the Danube, in the vicinity of the Ukrainian settlements attacked last night, in order to assess the situation. The Ministry of National Defence strongly condemns the irresponsible actions of the Russian Federation and underlines that they are a new challenge to regional security and stability in the Black Sea area."
MApN also said that the attacks on the Ukrainian port infrastructure on the Danube demonstrate the Russian Federation's lack of respect for the rules of international law, thus endangering not only the safety of Romanians, but also the collective security of NATO.
"Romania remains firmly committed to fulfilling its obligations as a member state of the Alliance and will continue to work closely with partners and allies to monitor and defend the national airspace. The Ministry of National Defence assures the public that all the necessary measures to guarantee national security are permanently applied, and the defence bodies are ready to respond promptly to any similar situation."
On Tuesday night, the General Emergency Management Inspectorate (IGSU) sent a RO-ALERT message to the people in the north of Tulcea County urging them to take shelter, given that there was a possibility of objects falling from the airspace. During the alert, the Delta Emergency Management Inspectorate received a call from a person in the county who asked for clarification on what was happening.
That was the first RO-ALERT public announcement since the middle of last month amid the war in Ukraine, but in the last almost two years, since the IGSU has been sending such anouncements, the population of Tulcea County has received dozens of extreme alerts.
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