President Iohannis on Russian drones in Romania: situation is unacceptable

This is reported by Agerpres.

The Romanian president noted that the remains of Russian drones have been found on the country's territory three times.

"So far, no one has been injured, but this does not mean that these incidents do not count," he said.

According to him, after the incidents with the Russian drones, Romania discussed the situation with its allies and strengthened air defense in the region to protect citizens.

"Although Russia's attacks are not directed against Romania, the situation is unacceptable. It is not Romania that is being attacked by drones, but the fact that parts of them are falling on the country's territory is a real problem that needs to be solved," he said.

The Romanian leader added that the citizens of the country living in the territories bordering Ukraine feel fear and understand how important it is to help Ukrainians defend themselves against Russian invasion, as they see the bombing from the other side and think that if we stand by and watch, we could be next.

Previous incidents with drone fragments in Romania

On the night of September 3-4, Russia carried out a massive strike on southern Ukraine with Iranian ‘kamikaze’ drones. According to Ukrainian border guards, some drones crashed and exploded on the territory of Romania, a NATO member state. Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said that there was photographic evidence of the drones crashing in Romania.

The Romanian Foreign Ministry stated that the drone attacks carried out by the Russian Federation did not pose a direct military threat to our national territory or territorial waters.

On September 5, Romanian Prime Minister Klaus Iohannis said that neither Russian drones nor any parts had fallen on Romanian territory. 

OSINT analysts also found that a Russian drone had gone down in Romania near one of the border villages. 

On Wednesday, September 6, Minister Angel Tilvar confirmed that a team from the Ministry of National Defence had found suspected pieces of a Russian drone in Romania.

President Klaus Iohannis said that an investigation should be conducted into the alleged crash of a Russian drone into Romania.

Romania has notified the North Atlantic Alliance of fragments found on its territory that look like a Russian army drone. NATO expressed support and said it was following the developments.

On Friday, September 8, media reported that the Romanian authorities are working to increase security for residents of border settlements near the Odesa region. In response to the Russian threat, the National Emergency Committee decided to create a network of bomb shelters and an air raid warning system.

On September 9, the US announced that it will soon provide additional fighter jets to Romania to strengthen NATO air control missions.

On September 12, the Romanian Defense Ministry began to build shelters for the population in the village of Plauru, located near Ukrainian Izmail.

On September 13, Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu said there was no cause for concern and called for reassurance.

On September 14, the Romanian Foreign Ministry expressed a "strong protest" to Russia over the drone debris hitting the country's territory, and summoned the Russian ambassador and consulted with NATO.

Later, the Romanian Deputy Chief of Defense Staff said that the army was ready to shoot down Russian drones if necessary. Romania has deployed about 600 troops and radar systems in the Danube Delta region.