NATO condemns Russian drone crash in Romania as irresponsible action

NATO has labeled the recent crash of a Russian drone on the territory of its member state, Romania, as an irresponsible and potentially dangerous act, according to a statement reported by Reuters. However, the North Atlantic Alliance said there was no information indicating a deliberate Russian attack on an ally.

Under Article 5 of the NATO Charter, an attack on any member state obligates the Allies to collective defense.

On July 25, after Russian military forces attacked the Izmail district in Ukraine’s Odessa region, wreckage from Russian unmanned aerial vehicles was discovered on Romanian territory near the border.

Romania’s Ministry of Defense reported finding fragments of a Geran type drone in an uninhabited area near the village of Plauru. The Russian Ministry of Defense has not commented on the incident.In response, two Finnish F-18 fighter jets were deployed to monitor the situation.

These jets are part of NATO’s mission to protect Romania’s airspace. On the morning of July 25, Ukrainian Air Force Commander Mykola Oleshchuk announced that Russian forces launched 38 drones from annexed Crimea and the Krasnodar region, specifically from Primorsko-Akhtarsk.

Lieutenant General Oleshchuk reported that Ukraine’s air defense systems were activated in Kyiv, Odessa, Kherson, Mykolaiv, Sumy, Zhytomyr, and Cherkasy regions, successfully shooting down 25 drones. He also noted that three drones went off radar after crossing the Ukrainian-Romanian border.