Romania reports Russian drone in its airspace

2025-09-14 08:50:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

Romania became the latest NATO member state to report a drone intrusion into its airspace, with Poland scrambling its planes in response to new Russian drone attacks just across the border in Ukraine.

Romania's defense ministry said Saturday that its airspace was violated by a drone during a Russian attack on infrastructure in neighboring Ukraine. Romania scrambled two F-16 fighter jets late Saturday to monitor the situation following the attacks, the ministry said in a statement.

Fighter jets "detected a drone in national airspace" and tracked it until it "disappeared from radar" near the Romanian village of Chilia Veche, it added.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned that Russia is deliberately expanding its drone operations and that the West should respond with tougher sanctions and closer defense cooperation. The recent drone attacks were "a clear expansion of the war by Russia," he said. "The Russian military knows exactly where its drones are going and how long they can stay in the air."

What was required in response were new sanctions against Russia and a collective defense system, Zelenskyy argued.

"Don't wait for dozens of 'Shaheeds' and ballistic missiles before making decisions," he warned, referring to the Iranian-designed Shahed drones that Russia is using.

In Washington, US President Donald Trump said he was ready to impose major sanctions on Russia once all NATO countries did the same and stopped buying Russian oil.

Also on Saturday, Poland said it and its NATO allies had deployed helicopters and planes when Russian drones struck Ukraine not far from its border.

Due to the threat from drones, "Polish and allied aircraft are operating in our airspace, and ground-based air defense and radar reconnaissance systems have reached their highest level of readiness," the country's military command wrote in a statement on X.

Later on Saturday, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced that the high alert had been lifted, while warning: "We remain vigilant."

Poland and other NATO countries have been on alert since Warsaw said nearly 20 Russian drones entered its airspace overnight Tuesday into Wednesday.

While Russia denies targeting Poland, several European countries, including France, Germany and Sweden, have increased their support for protecting Polish airspace in response./ CNA, translated by The Guardian