A Russian drone may have breached NATO airspace. (Image: Getty)
Four NATO fighter jets were deployed in response to a Russian drone believed to have entered into Romanian airspace during an attack on neighboring .
The overnight strike on the town of Izmail killed three people and injured 14, according to Odesa regional prosecutors, but the Ukrainian Air Force managed to shoot down 24 of the 32 drones.
It also prompted Romania’s Defense Ministry to scramble two Romanian F-16 jets and two Spanish F-18 jets, all launched from the Borcea and Mihail Kogălniceanu air bases between 1.52 am and 3.22 am on Firday.
The ministry released a statement reading: “The Ministry of National Defense sends a firm message of condemnation of these attacks carried out by the Russian Federation against Ukrainian civilian objectives and infrastructure.
“[They] are unjustified and in serious contradiction with the norms of international law. From the data available at this time, the existence of an impact area on the national territory has not been reported.”
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The Russian drones targeted Ukrainian civilian infrastructure. (Image: Getty)
Romanian authorities said at least one Russian drone may have entered its airspace at around 3 am for “a very brief period of under three minutes.” During this time, residents of the southeastern county of Tulcea were warned to take cover.
Due to its 400-mile border with , Romania has seen many drone fragments fall onto its territory over the past year of war. According to the defense ministry, this is mainly due to Ukrainian air defenses destroying them.
Earlier this month, defense ministers from countries on NATO’s eastern flank called for a coordinated response to drones breaching their airspace.
The proposed robuist response would include implementing a rotational integrated air and missile defence (IAMD) Model.
Tensions betwee and NATO are already high after announced amendments to his country’s nuclear doctrine which may affect how and when deploys nuclear weapons in the future.
The Russian president has long threatened to escalate the two-year war with should other countries intefere, but he went one step further on Wednesday – announcing changes to how and when his country could deploys nuclear weapons.
Kremlin propagandists have also reinforced Putin’s stance on nuclear weapons since the war began, arbitrarily telling Western capitals that their could be the targets of Russian nukes.
Now, the changes could allow to strike if its sovereignty is threatened, for example by missiles or drones crossing its state border.