Romania Confirms Russian Drone Behind Strike on Apartment Building
A drone struck a residential block in the southern part of Galați, eastern Romania, overnight, crashing onto the roof, setting part of the building ablaze and forcing the evacuation of 70 residents from the building, at least 2 of whom were hospitalised with injuries.
Romania’s Ministry of National Defence confirmed that during the night of 28 to 29 May the Russian regime resumed drone attacks on Ukrainian civilian and infrastructure targets near the river border, and that one of those drones entered Romanian airspace, was tracked by radar to southern Galați, and came down on the block. According to Galați local press, two people were injured, a woman with burns and a fourteen-year-old boy, and two residents escaped the burning flat before emergency crews arrived. The ministry issued RO-Alert warnings across Tulcea, Galați and Brăila counties.
Two Romanian F-16s scrambled from the 86th Air Base at Feteşti at 01:19, backed by an IAR-330 SOCAT helicopter, and by the ministry’s own account the pilots had authorisation to engage targets throughout the alert.
This is a Russian strike on NATO territory. Romania is a member of the alliance, the drone was Russian, and it hit civilian housing. The NATO treaty rests on the principle that an attack on one is an attack on all, yet incursions like this are treated as airspace violations and answered with a scramble, an alert and a condemnation. The EU Commission president announced a 21st sanctions package in response, framing the strike as Russia crossing 'yet another line,' though it is not the first line crossed in Galați.
There is a fair operational question about whether a single low-flying drone inside a larger swarm could have been intercepted at all. Romania's Foreign Minister said the incident justifies invoking NATO Article 4 consultations, with discussions ongoing. Since the start of Russia's full-scale war, drone debris has been found on Romanian territory 47 times. This is the 48th.