Italy will send about 100 soldiers and several fighter jets to Romania to train its troops to shoot down Russian drones.
This is reported by the Italian media outlet La Repubblica, citing sources in the Italian authorities.
The operation will begin on June 15 and take place at the Mihail Kogelniceanu Air Base in the coastal city of Constanta. It is a planned mission (although not publicly announced) — the soldiers were supposed to arrive in Romania anyway, but it was accelerated after a Russian drone crashed in the Romanian city of Galati on the night of May 29.
The mission will last about a month and will be different from Italyʼs usual NATO exercises. Italy reacted quickly to the incident. The defense minister wrote on social media a few hours later that he was with the Romanian people and sent a message of support to his Romanian counterpart. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni also said that it was an attack on an ally and member of the European Union, and said she stood with the Romanian people.
Incident in Galata
On the night of May 29, a Russian drone "Geran-2" hit a high-rise building in the Romanian city of Galati. Two people were injured, they received burns.
President Nicusor Dan immediately declared that Russia was responsible for this, criticized Romanian politicians and commentators who tried to justify the Russian Federation, closed the Russian Consulate General in Constanta and declared the consul persona non grata.
The Romanian president also stated that the drone changed trajectory because it was kinetically shot down in Ukraine while flying over the city of Reni, but reiterated that Russia bears responsibility for this.
President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke with his Romanian counterpart and stated that they agreed: Ukraine will support Romania in protecting the sky. Teams from both countries (military and specialists) will work on this.
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