A Spanish F-18 fighter jet on a NATO air policing mission has shot down a drone that illegally entered Romanian airspace, Romania’s Defence Ministry said on Sunday.
The incident marks the fourth time Romania has shot down an unmanned aircraft this year.
Romania, a NATO member, shares a 614-kilometre border with Ukraine and has repeatedly recorded Russian drones entering its airspace since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine.
The Defence Ministry said its radar detected the drone entering Romania from neighbouring Moldova, about 24 kilometres north of the southeastern city of Galati.
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The Spanish F-18 established radar contact with the drone and received authorisation to engage it, the ministry said. The drone was shot down at 5:01 a.m.
Fragments from the aircraft reportedly fell in an uninhabited area between two villages.
In July, Romanian F-16 fighter jets shot down three Russian drones that had entered the country’s airspace.
Earlier this year, a Russian drone crashed into an apartment building in Galati during an overnight attack on neighbouring Ukraine, injuring two people.
