Suspected Russian drone shot down in Romania as Kyiv and Moscow exchange strikes

BUCHAREST — An F-18 fighter on a NATO air policing mission shot down a drone that illegally breached Romanian national airspace, the fourth unmanned aircraft shot down over ⁠the country this year, Romania’s defense ministry said on Sunday.

BUCHAREST — An F-18 fighter on a NATO air policing mission shot down a drone that illegally breached Romanian national airspace, the fourth unmanned aircraft shot down over ⁠the country this year, Romania’s defense ministry said on Sunday.

A spokesperson for NATO’s military headquarters, U.S. Army Col. Martin O’Donnell, said the alliance is constantly on watch and prepared to defend itself from any ⁠threat.

“Additional details regarding Sunday’s incident ​remain ⁠under investigation, but the drone appears to be Russian,” he said. NATO member Romania shares a 381-⁠mile land border with Ukraine and has reported repeated breaches of ​its ⁠airspace by Russian drones over ‌the past four years, as well as mines floating in the Black Sea across key trade and energy routes.

Romania’s defense ‌ministry did not specify the origin ‌of the drone, saying it was detected by radar as it entered the country from neighboring Moldova, north of the southeastern Romanian city of ⁠Galati.

The F-18 jet, part of a Spanish NATO contingent deployed in Romania, “made radar contact with the target and received permission to engage,” the ministry said in a statement, adding that the drone was shot down safely at 5:01 a.m.