The Ministry of Defense of Romania denied that its air defense had shot down Russian Shahed drones

The Ministry of Defense of Romania denied reports that the Romanian Air Defense Forces allegedly shot down Russian Shahed drones, which then fell on Romanian territory.

Information about the work of the Romanian Air Defense Forces spread in social networks, in particular in X (formerly Twitter). However, the countryʼs Ministry of Defense assured that this "does not correspond to reality."

"We would like to draw your attention to a series of false messages spread on the X platform (formerly Twitter) and other social networks, which claimed that Romanian air defense assets deployed on the border opened fire on them [Russian drones]," it is stated in the message of the Ministry of Defense of Romania.

The Ministry of Defense emphasized that the Romanian forces and assets deployed in the border zone with Ukraine "did not open fire on Russian drones in any similar situation."

Russiaʼs attacks were aimed at the Ukrainian port infrastructure on the Danube, not at the facilities on the territory of Romania. The agency emphasized that it condemns the actions of Russia, called them unjustified and emphasized that they seriously contradict the norms of international law.

What preceded

On the morning of July 24, the Romanian media wrote about the fall of a drone near the village of Plauru after a massive Russian attack on Ukraine. And on July 25, the Russian Federation again attacked the south of the Odesa region and the center of Ukraine with Shahed drones, while three drones crossed the state border with Romania.

During the attack of Russian drones on Odesa on the night of July 25, two Finnish F-18 fighter jets took off from the Romanian 57th air base "Mikhail Kogelnychana". They monitored the air situation from 01:32 to 03:25 Kyiv time. In Tulcha County, a Ro-Alert signal sounded at night.

NATO stated that "they see no signs of a deliberate attack by Russia on a member of the Alliance". The bloc emphasized that the actions of the Russian Federation "are irresponsible and potentially dangerous."

• The drones used by the Russians to attack Odesa have repeatedly flown into the territory of Romania. For example, in March, the Ministry of Defense of Romania reported on the discovery of fragments, probably of an unmanned aerial vehicle, on agricultural land in the county of Breil.
• A similar incident occurred in December 2023, when the drone fell near the Romanian village of Grindu, which is located approximately 8 kilometers from the Ukrainian port of Reni.