Russia Repeatedly Tests Romanian Air Defense

A suspected drone fell near Romania’s border with Ukraine and started a fire on Friday, Oct. 2, without national air defense radars reporting an incursion, adding to concerns over NATO’s ability to detect and stop aircraft crossing its eastern frontier. Romanian authorities were investigating the object’s origin. Their initial statement described it as possibly an aerial drone and did not confirm that it was Russian.JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official. The alert came during Russian drone attacks on civilian sites and infrastructure across the Danube in Ukraine. At about 5 a.m., authorities received reports that an object had fallen near Plauru in northern Tulcea County. Firefighters and military teams secured the area. No casualties or material damage were reported. Local Mayor Tudor Cernega told Euronews Romania that the object fell in a harvested field roughly 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) from the Danube and 1.5 kilometers (0.9 miles) from homes. He said residents had received no air-raid alert that night. Romania faced another alert early Monday, Oct. 5, when radar detected an aerial target near Vylkove on the Ukrainian side of the border. Two Spanish F-18 fighters scrambled from Mihail Kogălniceanu Air Base, and authorities warned residents in northern Tulcea County at 2:34 a.m. No incursion into Romanian airspace was detected, and the alert ended at 3:23 a.m. Repeated breaches, different responses Recent incidents have included aircraft briefly entering NATO territory, drones disappearing from radar and debris recovered after explosions. Those events have not all produced shootdowns, but official accounts also record fighter deployments and other responses. Other Topics of Interest India Moves to Broker Black Sea Deal Between Russia and Ukraine New Delhi says its contacts with Moscow and Kyiv cover shipping safety, grain and energy exports and possible non-attack arrangements. On the evening of Sept. 27, a drone entered Romania near Ceatalchioi and disappeared from radar approximately 10 minutes later near Somova, according to a Defense Ministry account carried by Agerpres. Two Romanian F-16s took off to monitor the situation. The statement did not report a shootdown. On Sept. 29, the ministry confirmed finding a crater and drone fragments near Gropeni in Brăila County. Investigators established that an explosive payload had detonated on impact, causing a limited fire on agricultural land. Poland reported a separate violation on Sept. 23, when a Russian military Mi-8 helicopter crossed from Kaliningrad near Braniewo. According to Polish operational command, reported by Notes from Poland, it penetrated no farther than 300 meters (about 980 feet) and remained in Polish airspace for 42 seconds. Poland scrambled fighters and placed ground forces on standby. Earlier in September, Estonia reported drones entering its airspace after flying along its eastern border. Allied aircraft responded from Ämari Air Base. The foreign ministry’s statement linked the threat to Russia’s war but did not identify the drones’ operator. NATO forces have also destroyed intruding drones. As Kyiv Post reported in July, Romanian forces shot down three drones over three consecutive days. Authorities identified the first as a Russian Shahed-type drone, and Bucharest subsequently expelled a Russian diplomat. Pressure to strengthen drone defenses On the Ukrainian side of the border overnight Oct. 1–2, the Air Force reported 108 incoming Russian drones, including 47 jet-powered Shaheds. It said air defenses shot down or suppressed 88, approximately 81% of the total. That figure combines different methods of neutralization and is not a count of aircraft physically shot down. Across NATO’s eastern flank, repeated alerts have increased pressure to strengthen defenses against drones rather than rely on fighter deployments alone. Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania reportedly requested €500 million ($570 million) in urgent EU assistance for drone defenses. Kyiv Post’s Sept. 23 report, citing Finland’s Iltalehti newspaper, said the three countries’ defense ministers had sent their request to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. The reported request had not been publicly announced. Sabotage allegations and NATO’s response The airspace incidents come alongside allegations of Russian operations against European businesses supporting Ukraine. On Sept. 29, Estonia accused Russian intelligence services of ordering an August arson attack on Milrem Robotics, a defense company in Tallinn. Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said the perpetrators had been apprehended and that Estonia had summoned Russia’s ambassador. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov rejected the accusation as baseless. In a separate maritime incident, Russian border guards held the cargo ship Västerbotten for several hours on Oct. 1 while it was heading to Estonia’s Sillamäe port. The Cypriot-flagged vessel was in Russian territorial waters and subsequently continued to its destination. Estonia’s Transport Administration said Russia had not explained the detention. An official also noted that states can inspect ships in their territorial waters, so the detention alone did not establish an unlawful action. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has said the alliance’s responses to Russian hostile activity will not always be public or match Moscow’s actions directly. Speaking alongside Lithuanian Prime Minister Mindaugas Sinkevičius in Brussels on Sept. 29, Rutte said: “You will not always see them public. They will not always be symmetric. It will not always be tit-for-tat.” Romania’s latest statements illustrate the continuing detection problem: a suspected drone fell near Plauru without a recorded incursion, while a separate radar alert three days later prompted fighter launches without a confirmed border crossing. Stefan Korshak is the Kyiv Post Senior Defense Correspondent. He is from Houston Texas, is a Yalie and since the mid-1990s has worked as correspondent/photographer for newswire, newspapers, television and radio. He has reported from five wars but most enjoys doing articles on wildlife and nature. You can read his weekly blog on the Russo-Ukraine War on Facebook, Substack and Medium. His new book on the 2022 Siege of Mariupol is available on Amazon UK and Amazon US.