The Prime Minister of Romania Marcel Cholaku, commenting on the fall of fragments of Russian Shahed drones on Romanian territory, explained why the country cannot shoot them down.
Čolaku said this during a visit to Buzeu County, Digi24 reports.
"In order to shoot them [Russian drones] down, we have to open fire on Ukrainian territory, and I think that this has not been allowed yet, I have not heard of any decision on this issue," said Cholaku, answering questions from journalists.
According to the Romanian Prime Minister, Russian drones near the border with Romania in the Danube area are usually shot down by Ukrainian air defense — for Romanians, "there is no danger." After past incidents, when wreckage of Russian drones ended up on the territory of Romania, security measures were taken in the country.
The Ministry of Defense of Romania previously denied the information that the Romanian Air Defense Forces allegedly shot down Russian Shahed drones. The agency emphasized that Romanian forces and equipment stationed near the border with Ukraine "did not open fire on Russian drones in any similar situation."
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 already on July 25, the Russian Federation again attacked the south of 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 said that "they do not see 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. Then the drone fell near the Romanian village of Grindu, which is located approximately 8 kilometers from the Ukrainian port of Reni.