A Romanian Air Force F-16 fighter jet shot down a drone over the country’s territorial waters near Sulina–Chilia on Sunday morning, marking the third airspace violation by an unmanned aircraft in as many days. President Nicusor Dan confirmed the interception at 10:13 local time and said an investigation had already identified the drone destroyed on Friday as a Shahed-type model “used by the Russian Federation in the war of aggression against Ukraine.” Probes into the drones downed on Saturday and Sunday are ongoing.

Romania’s Foreign Ministry summoned the Russian ambassador following what Foreign Minister Oana Toiu called “repeated violations.” President Dan described the incursions as “inadmissible and intolerable,” stressing that Romanian airspace is simultaneously NATO and European Union airspace. Defence Minister Radu Miruta said the country “will continue to firmly defend its sovereignty and airspace but these provocations must stop.” Belgium’s Foreign Minister Maxime Prévot, whose country has 300 troops stationed in Romania as part of NATO’s eastern flank force, called the breach a “stark reminder of the ongoing threat Russia’s war poses to European security.”

NATO’s Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe said the alliance is “constantly on the watch and prepared to defend itself from any threat.” Colonel Martin O’Donnell, a SHAPE spokesperson, noted that the shootdowns coincide with efforts by Romania and other allies to acquire ground-based interceptors to strengthen air defence capabilities. The Romanian defence ministry stated that the Sunday drone was brought down safely 12 kilometres northeast of the coastal town of Sulina, above territorial waters. Prosecutors have recovered fragments of the Friday drone but are still searching for debris from the other two.

Romania shares a 650-kilometre border with Ukraine and has recorded dozens of drone incursions since Russia’s full-scale invasion began in February 2022. Until Friday, however, no drone had been shot down. A law adopted in 2025 explicitly authorises the military to engage aircraft that violate national airspace. In May, a stray drone struck an apartment building in the eastern city of Galati, wounding two people. The defence ministry says Russian drones have now entered Romanian airspace without permission 33 times, including Sunday’s breach. The Russian ambassador’s summons is the latest in a series of diplomatic protests; Moscow has previously rejected such accusations, citing a lack of coordinates and flight-path data. Investigations into the latest incidents continue, and NATO has enhanced airspace monitoring and deployed additional early-warning systems over Romania.