A Russian drone crashed into an apartment building in Romania early Friday, injuring two people and setting the building ablaze, exactly the type of spillover from the war in Ukraine that many in Europe have long feared.
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It was one of 232 drones and one ballistic missile launched by Russia against neighboring Ukraine, authorities there said, the latest nearly nightly attack against Ukraine’s power grid.
An unknown number of these drones crossed over into Romanian airspace, its government said.
“This incident represents a serious and irresponsible escalation by the Russian Federation,” Romanian Foreign Affairs Minister Oana-Silvia Țoiu said in a statement, promising to respond to the “Romania will take the necessary diplomatic response measures regarding this serious violation of international law and of its airspace.”
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Țoiu said Romania had summoned the Russian ambassador.
NATO, of which Romania is a member, issued a swift response.
“We condemn Russia’s recklessness, and NATO will continue to strengthen our defenses against all threats, including drones,” NATO spokeswoman Allison Hart said in a statement.
Meanwhile European Union President Ursula von der Leyen said that Russia’s “war of aggression has crossed yet another line.”
Like most nights, Russia had fired hundreds of drones at Ukraine late Thursday, with the Ukrainian military saying it detected 232 drones and one Iskander-M/S-400 ballistic missile. Of these, Ukraine shot down 217 drones, but 14 of them — as well as the ballistic missile — got through and hit targets in Ukraine, it said.
In neighboring Romania, radar detected multiple drones crossing into its airspace during one of Russia’s nightly waves of attacks on Ukraine, Romania’s Ministry of National Defense said in a statement. It scrambled two F-16 fighter jets and a helicopter at 1:19 a.m. (6:19 p.m. ET Thursday), with the aircraft having permission to shoot down the drones, it said.
One of the drones hit the roof of an apartment building in Galați, a town on the river Danube that separates Romania and Ukraine.
Images backed up official statements that this caused a fire on the roof, with two people injured and needing medical treatment.
Russian officials had not commented as of 3:45 a.m. ET.
What worries officials and experts so much about this type of incident is that — whether deliberate or not — it risks dragging other countries, and potentially NATO, into the war.
The alliance is built on the principle of mutual defense. Article 5 of its founding document says that an attack on one member should be treated as an attack on all, and that allies should respond appropriately.
The implication has always been that NATO members, underwritten by the most powerful member, the U.S., would come to the defense of European allies under attack. Although President Donald Trump has repeatedly cast doubt on this idea during his two presidential terms.
The condemnation was widespread across Europe.
“This must not become a new reality that we simply grow accustomed to,” said Lithuanian Prime Minister Inga Ruginienė.
Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot called it “unacceptable and irresponsible.” While Finish President Alexander Stubb accused Russia of “crossing another line in its war of aggression against Ukraine.”
In the United States, Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., said that Russia “belligerently and unprovoked, has attacked Romania.” He wrote on X, “Families sleeping in their homes are the target of war criminal Putin’s missiles and Iranian drones.”
