On May 29, Romania, a NATO member country, said a Russian unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) hit an apartment complex in the southeastern city of Galati at night, injuring 2 people.
This is the first time since the war in Ukraine broke out that a UAV has caused casualties after crashing into a densely populated residential area on Romanian territory.
According to Romanian authorities, the UAV crashed into the roof of a 10-story apartment building in Galati and exploded. The incident caused an apartment on the 10th floor to catch fire. The Romanian Emergency Response Agency said 70 residents had been evacuated from the area.
The state news agency Agerpres quoted rescue forces in Galati as saying that a woman and her child were taken to the hospital with minor injuries, while 2 others were treated on the spot due to panic.
Deputy Interior Minister Raed Arafat, who is in charge of the emergency response agency, told Digi24 that the explosion affected two staircases of the building and damaged 5 cars.
Rescue agencies confirmed that the entire warhead of the UAV exploded and the fire was later extinguished. The Romanian Ministry of Defense said that the radar lost signal to this device when it flew very low when entering Galati.
Romania, a member of NATO and the European Union, has a border of about 650 km with Ukraine. The Romanian Ministry of Defense said that since Russia began attacking Kiev ports across the Danube River, Romanian airspace has been violated by Russian UAVs 28 times.
The ministry also said that functional forces have recovered UAV debris that fell on Romanian territory up to 47 times.
Ms. Oana Toiu, Romanian Foreign Minister, called the incident a "serious violation of international law and Romanian airspace". In a post on social network X, she said Bucharest would take necessary diplomatic measures to respond.
Romania has also informed NATO allies and the NATO Secretary General about the situation, and proposed to accelerate the transfer of anti-UAV capabilities to this country.
