Romanian Defense Minister Radu Mîruță has announced that authorities have intercepted and destroyed five naval drones in the Black Sea, some of which were armed with explosives.
The development highlights the growing maritime risks facing the NATO member state which borders Ukraine.
Four of the drones were discovered prior to a June 5 incident where a Ukrainian drone went off course and exploded in the port of Constanța. A fifth was found subsequently, the minister announced Friday.
Mîruță also clarified that the military is not primarily responsible for port security during peacetime, explaining why there was not a separate army report on the Constanța explosion which triggered domestic security fears.
In an interview with Digi24, Mîruță confirmed the interception of the maritime drones amid regional tensions generated by the war in neighboring Ukraine.
“Debris from the drones was found in the sea and they were destroyed; some of them contained explosives, while others did not,” he said.
Mîruță noted that four of the drones were intercepted prior to June 5 explosion in the Romanian port of Constanța, while the fifth was likely discovered afterward.
Addressing fears about security, he pointed out that in peacetime “the Romanian army does not provide security for the port of Constanța.”
The revelation of the five destroyed drones comes just days after Romania requested that Ukraine modify the programming of its unmanned surface vessels (USVs).
Following the incident in Constanta, Mîruță announced plans to ask Kyiv to implement automatic self-destruct mechanisms on its maritime drones.
Under the proposal, Ukrainian drones operating in the Black Sea would be programmed to automatically detonate if they lose connection with their operators and drift within 12 nautical miles of the Romanian coast.
Ukrainian authorities said the unmanned vessel had been knocked off course and drifted into Romanian waters due to intense Russian electronic warfare during a combat mission in the Black Sea.
