Russian Drone Hits Romania Building in NATO First

A Russian drone crashed into a residential building in Galati, Romania, early Friday morning, causing a fire and injuring two people in what Bucharest called "a grave violation of international law." This marks the first time a drone has directly struck a residential building in Romania since Russia's invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022, prompting the country to summon the Russian ambassador and order the closure of Russia's consulate in the Black Sea port of Constanta. Romania's Ministry of Defense confirmed the drone penetrated Romanian airspace during a Russian attack on Ukrainian targets near the border and was tracked by radar until it struck the apartment block's roof, igniting a fire. Two F-16 fighter jets scrambled from the Fetesti air base attempted to engage the drones but were unable to prevent the impact. Romania has requested that NATO accelerate the transfer of anti-drone capabilities to the country, and the alliance condemned Russia's "reckless behavior," pledging to reinforce defenses against all threats, including drones, and preparing its 21st sanctions package against Moscow. Russian President Vladimir Putin, speaking at a press conference in Kazakhstan hours after the incident, denied knowledge of what happened and challenged Romania to provide drone wreckage for Moscow to conduct its own investigation. Putin suggested the drone could be Ukrainian, citing previous incidents where Western nations blamed Russia for drones that turned out to originate elsewhere. Romanian President Nicusor Dan stated his country will not accept the transfer of Russia's war against Ukraine to its citizens. Separately, another Russian drone later struck a Turkish cargo ship in the Black Sea during a separate attack, injuring two crew members.