NATO Ally Finland sent F-18 fighter jets to Romania’s border with Ukraine early Thursday for the second night in a row of Russian drone attacks close to Romanian territory.
Russia’s military “carried out a new series of drone attacks” in Ukraine near the border with Romania on the night of the 24th to the 25th, Bucharest’s defense ministry said in a statement Thursday.
Two Finnish Air Force F-18 fighter jets took off from a military base in southeastern Romania at 1.32 a.m. local time on Thursday to “monitor the aerial situation,” returning to their base about two hours later, the ministry said.
Romanian teams found drone debris on Romania’s side of the border around the village of Plauru, spokesman Constantin Spanu said. Plauru is across the border from the Ukrainian port town of Izmail, separated by the Danube River.
The previous night, local authorities in Izmail said Russia had carried out a “massive attack” using Iranian-designed Shahed kamikaze drones on Izmail, damaging port infrastructure and a residential building. Three people were hospitalized, the local administration said on social media.
The drones attacking southern Ukraine were launched from Russia-controlled Crimea and Russia’s Krasnodar region, Kyiv’s air force said.
