GALATY, ROMANIA – NATO on May 29 condemned the Russian government’s reckless actions and pledged to “defend every inch of the Allied territory” after Romania said a Russian drone crashed into an apartment building in an alliance member state during an attack on neighboring Ukraine.
Romania’s Ministry of Defense announced that a woman and child sustained minor injuries overnight in Galați, near the border with Ukraine, after radar tracked a Russian drone that entered Romanian airspace.
Photos from the scene showed scorched and damaged bricks on the roof of the 10-story apartment building, and Romanian authorities said the drone exploded upon impact, tearing apart the top-floor apartment.
Russia’s TASS news agency quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying that President Vladimir Putin had been informed about the incident.
Separately, Dmitry Medvedev, deputy head of Russia’s powerful Security Council, warned European leaders that drones would continue to invade their countries and disturb their citizens’ peaceful sleep.
This is the first time Russia has attacked a populated area in a NATO member state resulting in injuries during Russia’s war in Ukraine, and the incident is likely to heighten tensions in the eastern flank of the alliance, as member states fear the war will spread across their borders.
“Russia’s reckless actions are a danger to us all,” NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte told X after speaking by phone with Romania’s President Nixor Dan, which is a member of both the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the European Union.
“I have confirmed that NATO stands ready to defend every inch of Allied territory,” he said, but did not mention invoking NATO’s mutual defense clause. “We continue to strengthen our preparedness to deter and defend against all threats, including drones.”
Dunn said the Russian consulate in the southeastern city of Constanta would be closed and its consul expelled.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Moscow would respond quickly to the decision to close the consulate in Bucharest, TASS reported.
“NATO needs to do something”
Romania, which shares a 400-mile land border with Ukraine, said Russian drones have violated its airspace 28 times since Russia began attacking Ukrainian ports across the Danube following its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Stephen Evelyn, 44, an American citizen who lives in Galati, called it “a new provocation by the Russians.”
“I don’t think this was an accident. Things like this have happened so many times that it’s hard to believe that the Russians could have done this by accident,” he said. “Either that or they have a very low capacity to wage war, but NATO needs to do something about this.”
Since Moscow invaded Ukraine, there have been multiple violations of NATO airspace, most notably on the night of September 9-10, when more than 20 Russian drones entered Polish airspace.
In recent weeks, Ukrainian drones have entered the Baltic state’s airspace, causing chaos and escalating tensions with Russia.
Romania has asked its NATO allies to equip Romania with additional anti-drone capabilities, with official sources saying Bucharest needs low-altitude radar and interceptor drones. A NATO spokesperson said on May 29 that “possible additional defensive measures are being considered.”
Romania scrambles F-16 fighter jets
Local authorities in southern Ukraine announced that the port of Izmail in the Odesa region, across the border from Galati, was attacked by a drone in the early morning hours of May 29th.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Kiev was ready to support Romania “in all necessary ways.”
Romania’s Defense Ministry said two F-16 fighter jets were scrambled, a military helicopter was sent to monitor the attack, and pilots were authorized to shoot down the drone without endangering populated areas. Residents of the border counties of Braira, Galati and Tulcea were warned to evacuate.
Romanian Brigadier General Gheorghe Maxim said the drone remained in Romanian airspace for four minutes and flew 10.2 miles at a low altitude, making it difficult to detect by radar.
He told a news conference that the US anti-drone system Merops, although operational in Romania, has not yet been fully integrated with the country’s air defense and would be too dangerous to be used in cities.
In addition to the woman and her child who were taken to hospital with minor injuries, two other people were treated at the scene for panic attacks and 70 people were evacuated from the apartment complex, local authorities said.
Deputy Interior Minister Raed Arafat, who is in charge of the emergency response agency, told commercial broadcaster Digi24 that the drone affected two stairwells and an elevator shaft of the building and damaged five vehicles.
In April, a drone also damaged a utility pole and a residential annex in Galati.
In a separate incident, a drone without explosives was found in northwestern Romania, state broadcaster TVR reported late on May 28, citing local authorities.
