The Romanian Ministry of Defense explained why their fighters did not shoot down Russian drones, although they were “close to doing so”

Romanian F-16 fighter jets came “very close” to shooting down a Russian drone that flew into NATO territory on September 13. But that didn’t happen because the drone flew to Ukraine.

Romanian Defense Minister Ionut Moșteanu said this on the Antena 3 CNN channel.

According to him, radars detected a drone approaching Romanian airspace. Two F-16 fighter jets were sent to intercept it.

"The planes took off and saw the drone, they were very close to shooting it down. The drone was flying very low and at some point flew towards Ukraine. The drone left the airspace, returning to Ukraine," the Romanian minister said.

He added that due to a law passed in the spring, Romanian pilots can open fire on drones that violate the countryʼs border.

Moșteanu also emphasized that provocations from Russia occur approximately every week and Romania reacts to them systematically.

• On the evening of September 13, Russian drones once again flew into Romanian territory. According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, the drone entered Romanian territory at a distance of about 10 km and was in the airspace of a NATO country for about 50 minutes.

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