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Romania, fragments found are suspected to be of Russian drones

2023-09-09 21:00:14, Kosova & Bota CNA

Romania's Defense Ministry said on Saturday it had found new fragments of a drone similar to those used by the Russian military on Romanian territory. President Klaus Iohannis said this indicates an unacceptable violation of Romania's airspace.

Mr. Iohannis said in a statement that he had informed NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg of the findings of the drone fragments, the second to crash on Romanian territory this week. He said that Mr. Stoltenberg had emphasized the full solidarity of the alliance with Romania.

" The identification by the Romanian authorities of new fragments of drones on the Romanian territory near the border with Ukraine, shows an unacceptable violation of the airspace of Romania, a NATO country, which poses real risks for the security of Romanian citizens", said the President Iohannis. " I firmly condemn this incident caused by the Russian attacks on the Ukrainian ports of the Danube River ".

Attacks on Ukrainian ports on the Danube River, just hundreds of meters from the Romanian border, have raised security risks for NATO, whose members have a mutual defense commitment.

Mr Stoltenberg said the Russian attacks near the border were "destabilising" even though there was no indication Russia intended to strike a NATO member. He added in a message on the X network, the platform formerly known as Twitter, that he welcomes the US decision to increase air patrols with F-16 fighter jets.

The State Department said earlier this week that it would provide additional F-16 fighter jets to bolster NATO's air patrol mission over Romania.

The Ministry of Defense said it had sent special teams to the area after local authorities were notified of suspected drone fragments discovered 2.5 km southeast of the village of Plauru, across from the Ukrainian port of Izmail on the Danube River. The army has secured the area and the fragments will be analyzed, a statement said.

Since July, when Moscow abandoned an agreement to lift the blockade of Ukrainian ports on the Black Sea, Moscow has continued to attack Ukrainian ports on the Danube River near Romania.

Ukraine is one of the largest grain exporters in the world and the Romanian port of Constanta on the Black Sea is currently the main export option. The grain is sent there via railways or the Danube river./ VOA