Romania summons Russian envoy as it shoots down third intruding drone

Romania has escalated diplomatic tensions with Russia following a series of unmanned aircraft incursions into its airspace. A Romanian F-16 fighter jet intercepted and destroyed a drone over the Black Sea on Sunday morning, marking the third such incident in as many days. Previous interceptions occurred on Friday and Saturday, with the Friday drone identified as a Shahed model used by Russian forces in Ukraine.

In response to the pattern of violations, Romania's Foreign Ministry summoned Russia's ambassador to lodge a formal complaint. The repeated breaches of Romanian airspace have intensified concerns among NATO and European Union officials about the potential for the Ukraine conflict to directly entangle alliance members. Senior NATO military officials have characterized the incursions as unacceptable and described Russia's actions as reckless behaviour that endangers the alliance.

Romania is not alone in facing these challenges. Other Eastern European NATO members, particularly Baltic states, have reported similar airspace violations in recent months. The incidents have proven consequential—Latvia's government collapsed in May partly due to frustration over repeated incursions. NATO leadership has pledged to defend alliance territory and is actively acquiring ground-based air defence systems to strengthen regional capabilities.

The drone intrusions occur against a backdrop of intensifying conflict in Ukraine, where Russia and Ukrainian forces conduct daily bombardments with hundreds of unmanned aircraft and missiles. A ballistic missile attack on Kyiv overnight killed two people and wounded at least three, with Russia claiming the strikes targeted drone production facilities rather than civilian areas.