On Sunday, July 26, 2026 Romania has shot down a Russian drone over the Black Sea after it violated the country’s airspace, marking the third such incident in as many as three days and fuelling concerns that Moscow is becoming increasingly brazen in testing NATO’s eastern flank.
The Romanian Ministry of Defence said an F-16 fighter jet intercepted and destroyed the drone approximately 12 kilometres northeast of the Danube Delta port of Sulina, within Romania’s territorial waters. President Nicușor Dan condemned the repeated incursions, calling them “inadmissible and intolerable” violations not only of Romania’s sovereignty but also of NATO and European Union airspace. “Such actions are unacceptable, and we treat them with the utmost seriousness, alongside our allies,” Dan said.
The latest incident marks a notable shift in Romania’s response. Following previous drone incursions, Bucharest had urged Russia to conduct its military operations more accurately to prevent drones from crossing into Romanian territory during attacks on Ukraine’s Danube ports. Now, after three violations in three days, Romania has moved beyond diplomatic protests, using military force to destroy the drone and summoning Russia’s ambassador to explain the repeated breaches.
Romania shares a 650-kilometre border with Ukraine, and Russian attacks on Ukrainian ports along the Danube have repeatedly sent drones into Romanian airspace. While Moscow has never acknowledged responsibility for the incursions, the frequency and growing depth of these violations are prompting broader questions about whether they are merely navigational failures or increasingly deliberate attempts to probe NATO’s readiness and response.
Although no evidence has been presented proving the latest incursions were intentional, the repeated violations of NATO airspace in such a short period are likely to intensify calls for a stronger Allied response as Russia’s war against Ukraine continues to spill beyond Ukraine’s borders.
Nadia Gereliouk
