The Romanian Ministry of National Defense announced today that the same pilot of an F-16 fighter jet shot down both drones that violated Romanian airspace yesterday and today, the news site Ziare reports, quoted by BTA.
"This morning at 8:22 a.m., the same Romanian pilot with the same F-16 fighter jet of the Romanian Air Force, assisted by the same colleague, shot down a second drone that entered Romanian airspace," the ministry reported in a Facebook post.
The institution notes that the drone was shot down over an uninhabited area near the border with Ukraine.
Two F-16 "Fighting Falcon" of the Romanian Air Force, performing airspace protection missions, intercepted the aerial target and carried out standard identification and neutralization procedures, the ministry also said.
The population in the eastern Tulcea county received a warning this morning through the RO-ALERT system about the possibility of objects falling from the airspace and a recommendation to seek safe shelter.
At the same time, Defense Minister Radi Miruca pointed out that today's action in Tulcea county lasted only 11 minutes, unlike yesterday's case, when a drone was shot down over Buzău county 83 minutes after it was detected by radars when entering Romanian airspace.
According to him, the shooting down of the drone this morning near the village of Sfântu Gheorghe is "clear proof of the Romanian Army's determination that such illegal intrusions will not be tolerated. tolerated".
"In 11 minutes they managed to detect the target with the on-board radar, identify a safe area in which it could be attacked, target it and shoot it down", the minister stressed, referring to the pilots who participated in the operation.
He pointed out that there is still no information about the origin of the drone and an investigation is pending.
Regarding the drone shot down yesterday, the Prosecutor General's Office announced that it was found to be a "Shahed" type.
The President of the European Council Antonio Costa today conveyed a message of solidarity with Romania following the new cases of violation of national airspace and stressed that "Romania's security is the security of Europe", reports Digi 24 television.
"For the second time in 24 hours, Romania's airspace was violated by an intrusion of drones. I congratulate the Romanian authorities for the swift and effective response. We stand in full solidarity with Romania and its citizens. The security of the EU is the security of Europe," Costa wrote on the social network Ex.
"We will continue to strengthen the security, resilience and deterrence capabilities of the European Union, including on its eastern border," the President of the European Council added.
A Romanian Air Force F-16 fighter jet shot down a drone this morning in the Danube Delta near the border with Ukraine, after another drone, identified by the Romanian prosecutor's office as a "Shahed", was shot down by an F-16 in the southeastern Buzau county yesterday. Both drones were destroyed by missiles fired from aircraft over uninhabited areas.
Romanian Foreign Minister Oana Coiu said today that Romania is defending its airspace and will share the conclusions of the investigations into the two drones that were shot down after violating the country's airspace with NATO allies and European Union partners, Digi 24 television reported.
Coiu posted a message on the X network after a Romanian Air Force F-16 fighter jet shot down a drone in the Danube Delta this morning, the second such incident in 48 hours.
Romania's top diplomat stressed that for the second time in two days, a Romanian F-16 pilot has intercepted and destroyed a drone that had entered Romanian airspace. She indicated that the drone was shot down in the Danube Delta, about 10 kilometers west of the village of Sfantu Gheorghe.
"We also know more about yesterday's interception - the General Prosecutor's Office confirmed that the drone shot down near the village of Padina was a "Shahed" type - the same type that Russia sends night after night against Ukraine," she wrote.
In her words, the two cases "are not a coincidence, but a pattern".
"Two incursions in 48 hours are not a coincidence, they are a pattern and our response to this pattern is a sequence: detection, interception, protection of our citizens, full transparency with our allies," the minister emphasized.
Coiu thanked the pilots of the Romanian Armed Forces for protecting the country's airspace.
"Romania's borders are non-negotiable. We will share both investigations with our allies and EU partners," Coiu also said.
Around 11 a.m. yesterday, a Romanian Air Force F-16 fighter pilot, participating in an airspace surveillance mission, shot down a drone over an uninhabited area near the village of Padina in Buzau County. The same pilot shot down another drone near the village of Sfantu Gheorghe, Tulcea County, at around 8:20 a.m. today.