Russian Drone Crashes into Romanian Apartment, Injuring Two

Rising Tensions on NATO's Eastern Flank

The Romanian government announced that a Russian drone collided with an apartment building in a residential area of Galati, eastern Romania, near the border with Ukraine, injuring two residents.

On May 29 (local time), the Romanian Ministry of Defense stated in a press release that "a Russian drone entered Romanian airspace between the night of May 28 and the early morning of May 29 and crashed into the roof of an apartment building in southern Galati, causing a fire."

Fire caused by a drone collision in Galati apartment, Romania Photo by AP Yonhap News

As a result, two residents were injured and 70 people were evacuated, according to the Romanian government.

Although there have been several instances of Russian drones violating Romanian airspace during the Russia-Ukraine war, this is the first time that civilian casualties have occurred.

Romania is a member state of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

Romanian President Klaus Iohannis convened the Supreme Council of National Defense regarding this incident and stated, "We can never tolerate the spillover of Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine onto the Romanian people," adding that "this is a very serious situation."

Romanian Foreign Minister Oana Toiu wrote on X (formerly Twitter) that the Russian ambassador to Romania had been summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, adding, "We will officially communicate what consequences such irresponsible actions by Russia will have on our bilateral diplomatic relations, and what follow-up measures, including sanctions packages, will be pursued at the European level."

The Romanian government also requested NATO to rapidly deploy drone defense capabilities to the country.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.