Early on Wednesday, July 24, Russian drones targeted areas in Romania during an attack on Ukraine’s Odesa region, according to sources within Ukraine’s Security and Defense Sector. Romania’s Defense Ministry responded by scrambling F-16 fighter jets to monitor the situation near its shared border with Ukraine.
Three Shahed unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) were recorded falling and causing fires in Romania near the village of Niculițel, approximately seven kilometers from the Ukrainian border. The Defense Ministry reported that two F-16 aircraft took off at 2:19 a.m. from the 86th Borcea Air Base, situated about 126 kilometers east of Bucharest. The jets were tasked with monitoring the aerial situation amid the drone attacks.
Romania’s Tulcea County, bordering Ukraine’s Odesa region, was placed on alert as Russian forces carried out drone attacks near the NATO member’s border. The alert was lifted less than two hours later, and the F-16s returned to base at around 4:20 a.m. Local authorities in Tulcea County were mobilized to investigate potential objects that may have fallen on Romanian territory near Plauru, a town close to the Ukrainian city of Izmail on the Danube River.
This incident marks another instance where Romania has discovered drone debris near its border with Ukraine since the start of Moscow’s invasion. In response, Romania has implemented measures to protect border residents, including the construction of air-raid shelters.
Romania’s defense ministry confirmed the involvement of Shahed drones, noting that a fire was reported by the crew of an IAR-330 helicopter from the 57th Mihail Kogălniceanu Air Base after the drones fell. Local authorities in Izmail reported significant damage to port infrastructure and a residential building, with three individuals hospitalized as a result.
Explosions in Izmail (Odessa/Ukrainian/Romanian border ferry crossing area) …
Atleast one residential apartment building was hit. Some reports claimed a russian drone also crashed on Romanian territory. pic.twitter.com/joxNNL4c2m
— 🌻 Fertilizer Finder 🌻 (@ManiacMagic1) July 24, 2024
Ukraine’s air force stated that Russia had launched 23 attack drones at Ukraine overnight, with air defenses intercepting 17 of them. Most of the drones were detected around Odesa, northeast of Izmail. Media reports indicated that Romanian border guards detected the approaching drones at 2:10 a.m., prompting an alert for Tulcea County.
The drones attacking southern Ukraine were launched from Russia-controlled Crimea and Russia’s Krasnodar region. Ukraine’s southern command highlighted the targeting of port infrastructure in their latest attacks. Following the UAV falls, residents reported explosions to local emergency services, with the air raid alert in Romania lifted at 3:46 a.m. There were ten emergency calls based on the sound of explosions.
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