Romania scrambles fighter jets after drones breach airspace

25/11/2025 17:59

Romania sent out fighter jets to track drones which breached its territory near the border with Ukraine early on Tuesday, and one was still advancing deeper into the country, the defence ministry said.



The ministry said it initially scrambled two Eurofighters - part of German air-policing missions in Romania - which tracked a drone in the southeastern county of Tulcea before it re-entered Ukraine.



The army later scrambled two Romanian F-16 fighter jets after radar showed a second airspace breach in the county of Galati. The planes tracked it moving inland towards the county of Vrancea, the ministry said.



Residents of all three counties were warned to take cover.



The EU and NATO member shares a 650-km (400-mile) land border with Ukraine and has had drones breach its airspace and fragments fall onto its territory repeatedly since Russia began attacking Kyiv's ports across the Danube.



Tensions have mounted along Europe's eastern flank in recent months after suspected Russian drones breached the airspace of several NATO states. Romania has legislation in place enabling it to shoot down drones during peacetime if lives or property are at risk, but has not yet made use of it.