O Romanian Ministry of Defense reportedthrough its official social networks, that a drone was shot down this Sunday (16.Aug.2026), at 4:44 am, when it illegally entered its airspace.
According to the Ministry, the drone is of the Republic of Moldova, an Eastern European country formed after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. NATO, however, says the drone appears to be Russian.
The reduction was carried out at 5h01 by a Spanish Air Force F-18 fighter on a NATO air policing mission, of which Romania is a member.
An air and ground search mission was conducted by teams from the Ministry of National Defense and the Ministry of the Interior in the area. Fragments of the interceptor missile were found, which, according to Romania, were “safely neutralized by the explosive ordnance disposal team, as well as fragments from the drone shot down this morning, collected by forensic experts”.
In response to Reutersone Spokesperson for NATO’s military headquarters, United States Army Colonel Martin O’Donnell, stated that the body is constantly on alert and prepared to defend itself against any threat.
Investigations to uncover more details are still ongoing.
Romania shares a 614 km land border with Ukraine and has reported repeated violations of its airspace by Russian drones since the start of the war more than 4 years ago.
Source: https://www.poder360.com.br/poder-internacional/caca-da-otan-abate-drone-que-invadiu-espaco-aereo-da-romenia/
