Romanian F-16 Shoots Down Third RussianDrone in Three Days Over Its Territorial Waters

A Romanian F-16 fighter jet shot down a Russian drone over Romania’s territorial waters – the third such incident in three days.

Romanian President Nicușor Dan reported the incident on his official X account.

He shared that the incident took place at 10:13 a.m. in the Sulina–Chilia area, where the F-16 destroyed the aerial target while it was flying over Romanian territorial waters.

The President thanked the pilots and ground crews for their professionalism, courage, and effective execution of their missions, emphasizing that their actions contribute to protecting the country’s territory and the safety of Romanian citizens.

“It is unacceptable and intolerable that the Russian Federation continues to violate Romania’s airspace, which is also the airspace of NATO and the European Union. Such actions are unacceptable, and we are treating them with the utmost seriousness together with our allies,” Nicușor Dan stated.

This is already the third downing of a Russian drone that entered Romanian airspace in three days.

The first drone was intercepted by fighter jets on July 24 at around 11:00 a.m. over an uninhabited area, allowing the pilot to use weapons without risk to the civilian population.

At that time, two Italian Air Force Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jets were scrambled to intercept the target. They were carrying out NATO air policing missions from the Mihail Kogălniceanu Air Base, along with two Romanian F-16s from the 86th Air Base in Fetești.

The second drone was intercepted by the fighter jets on July 25 at 08:30 a.m., approximately 10 km west of the settlement of Sfântu Gheorghe.

In addition to protecting Romanian territory, the country’s Air Force pilots operating F-16 fighter jets also conduct patrols as part of the Baltic Air Policing mission. On May 19, 2026, a pilot from the Carpathian Vipers squadron destroyed a drone in Estonian airspace and advanced approximately 80 kilometers into the country.

Since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Romania has repeatedly faced violations of its airspace by Russian drones. Despite such aircraft entering its airspace, the country ignored them for some time. In addition to aerial drones, Romania has also faced surface unmanned vehicles in its territorial waters.

Militarnyi previously reported on the explosion of a surface drone after it collided with a boom barrier near a pier at the Romanian port of Constanța.