Drone Crashes Near Romania’s Border With Ukraine

On the night of August 20, a drone crashed in Romania near the border with Ukraine during a massive Russian attack on the Odesa region, the country’s defense ministry reported.

At 2:23 a.m., the radar surveillance system detected a group of aerial targets near the border with Ukraine.

Two Spanish Air and Space Force EF-18 fighter jets were scrambled to monitor the situation. Romanian military forces also deployed an IAR-330 SOCAT helicopter.

The drone entered Romanian airspace approximately 13 kilometers east of the city of Galați.

At 3:24 a.m., the crew of a Romanian helicopter reported that an aerial target had crashed approximately 4 kilometers northeast of the village of Grindu in Tulcea County.

The drone crashed in a remote area. After the crash, a fire broke out, which eventually went out on its own.

There have been no reports of casualties or property damage. Military personnel were dispatched to the crash site to secure the area. The air raid alert was lifted at 3:52 a.m.

Shootdowns of Drones Over Romania

On the morning of August 16, a Spanish EF-18 conducting a NATO air patrol mission shot down a drone that had entered Romanian airspace from Moldova.

This was already the fourth UAV shot down over Romania in 2026. On July 24, 25, and 26, Romanian F-16s shot down three Russian drones that had violated the country’s airspace.

In addition, on August 14, a Russian Shahed-type strike drone crashed in a wooded area near the Romanian village of Greci in Tulcea County, approximately 18 km from the Ukrainian border. It caused no casualties or material damage and was later destroyed in a controlled detonation.

The Romanian Ministry of National Defence stated that radar surveillance systems did not detect the air target because it was flying at a very low altitude.