Dangerous escalation: Russian drone strikes Romania and tests NATO nerves

A drone hit a residential building in Romania, a NATO member state, and exploded inside it, injuring two people, following a Russian attack targeting a nearby Ukrainian port.

Romania’s Ministry of Defence said on Friday: “During the night of May 28–29, Russia resumed its drone attacks against civilian targets and infrastructure in Ukraine, near the river border with Romania.”

According to Romanian broadcaster Antena 3 CNN, the drone struck the roof of a building in the city of Galați, close to the Ukrainian border.

Attack tracking

The spokesperson for the Romanian Ministry of Defence, Colonel Cristian Popovici, told the channel: “This drone entered national airspace at 1:54 a.m. and headed toward the eastern area of Galați, but we lost it from radar south of the city.”

Footage showed clear burn marks on the building’s roof, while emergency response teams and investigators inspected the blast site on Friday morning.

Galați is located in southeastern Romania on the border with Ukraine. On the other side lies the port of Izmail, Ukraine’s largest port on the Danube, which is a frequent target of Russian attacks.

At roughly the same time the drone hit the building in Galați, Ukrainian authorities reported a Russian drone attack on the Izmail port area.

Romania’s Ministry of Defence confirmed that radar systems detected drones in Romanian airspace, adding that two F-16 Fighting Falcon jets were deployed, with pilots authorised to engage targets during the alert.

Romania is a member of both NATO and the European Union. In recent times, Alliance countries have increasingly faced Russian drones and missiles entering their airspace or falling on their territory, heightening tensions with Moscow.

The Romanian Ministry of Defence said Russian drones had violated Romanian airspace 28 times since Moscow began targeting Ukrainian ports along the Danube.

Dangerous escalation

Romania’s Foreign Ministry condemned on Friday what it described as a “dangerous and irresponsible escalation” by Russia, saying that “this incident represents a serious and irresponsible escalation by the Russian Federation.”

It added: “Romania has informed its allies and the NATO Secretary-General about the situation and requested measures to speed up the transfer of anti-drone capabilities to Romania.”

In September 2025, NATO fighter jets shot down several Russian drones that violated Polish airspace during an attack on neighbouring Ukraine, with the Alliance condemning what it called Moscow’s “extremely dangerous behaviour,” saying it had raised tensions to a new level.

Days after that incident, Romania also condemned Moscow’s “irresponsible actions” after accusing it of violating its airspace with a drone during an attack on Ukraine, prompting Bucharest to deploy fighter jets to intercept it.