A Russian drone packed with explosives slammed into an apartment building in Romania Thursday night, leaving two people injured.
The incident, which took place in the southeastern city of Galati near the Ukrainian border, marks the first time Romanian civilians have been wounded by a Russian drone strike since the start of the war.
Romania’s Ministry of Defense said it tracked the drone entering the country’s airspace on radar as Russia attacked “civilian and infrastructure targets” across the border in Ukraine.
Two F-16 fighter jets and a Romanian Air Force helicopter were scrambled with “authorization to engage targets,” but the drone crashed onto the roof of the residential building, starting a fire, the ministry said.
The two civilians hurt in the incident suffered minor injuries, Romanian emergency services officials said, according to Reuters.
The officials noted that the drone’s entire explosive payload detonated and around 70 people had to be evacuated from the 10-story building.
Romania, a member of NATO that shares about 400 miles of border with Ukraine, has recently reported an uptick in Russian drone incursions.
Romania has recorded 25 airspace violations, recovered munition fragments 47 times, and has had to scramble aircraft 53 times since the start of Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, according to data the ministry of defense provided ABC News earlier this month.
However, about 28% of airspace violations, 23% of munition fragment discoveries and nearly 34% of air policing missions have occurred in the first four months of 2026.
Just last month, a Russian drone crashed in a populated area of Galati but there were no reports of injuries.
Romanian President Nicușor Dan said the April crash was “the first incident where Romanian property has actually been damaged, a threshold we take very seriously.”
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