Romanian forces on Sunday shot down a third drone in as many days, Romanian President Nicușor Dan has announced.
In a statement on social media, Dan said a Romanian air force F-16 fighter jet had intercepted a drone over Romania’s territorial waters at around 10:13 am on Sunday morning. The incident reportedly occurred in the Sulina–Chilia area of the Danube Delta, close to the border with Ukraine.
“I would like to congratulate the Romanian pilots and ground crews on the professionalism, courage and efficiency with which they carry out their missions,” Dan wrote on X.
O nouă dronă a fost doborâtă în această dimineață, la ora 10:13, de un avion F-16 al Forțelor Aeriene Române, deasupra apelor teritoriale ale României, în zona Sulina–Chilia.
Îi felicit pe piloții români și pe echipele de la sol pentru profesionalismul, curajul și eficiența cu…
— Nicușor Dan (@NicusorDanRO) July 26, 2026
Romanian authorities reported that an F-16 shot down another unmanned aerial vehicle on Saturday morning in the same area as Sunday’s.
A third drone was shot down by a Romanian F-16 at on Friday morning.
The Romanian Prosecutor General’s Office has said the drone intercepted on Friday was of the Shahed-type used by Russian forces in its war against Ukraine.
Investigations into the drones shot down on Saturday and Sunday are still ongoing.
Dan said it was “intolerable for the Russian Federation to continue violating Romania’s airspace.”
“Such actions are unacceptable and we are treating them with the utmost seriousness, alongside our allies,” he added.
Romania lies on NATO’s eastern flank and border the Black Sea, It shares a 640-kilometer border with Ukraine and is vulnerable to spillover from Russia’s war against Ukraine, which began after Moscow’s full-scale invasion Ukraine in February 2022.
In May, a Russian drone carrying explosives crashed into an apartment block in Galați, eastern Romania, injuring two.
Last month, a Ukrainian sea drone also exploded in the Romanian port of Constanta. The Ukrainian military said it had veered off course as a result of Russian electronic warfare interference.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has described such incidents “a direct consequence of Russia’s war against Ukraine
Romania shoots down a second drone breaching its airspace in space of two days
