Two U.K. Eurofighter Typhoon jets took off early Saturday morning after Russian drones approached the Romanian border with Ukraine, Romania’s defense ministry said. Authorities said that the British aircraft stayed in Romanian airspace and were authorized to engage the drones, but didn’t shoot on them as they hadn’t breached the national border.
Explosive debris from the Russian drones did fall on a farm in the Romanian town of Văcăreni, the authorities said. The fighter jets were tracking the drones as they were flying over the Ukrainian port city of Reni, 1.5 kilometers away from the Romanian border. Contact with the drones was lost after they exploded.
The authorities said they evacuated the nearby population and effected a controlled demolition of dangerous material. Romania’s defense ministry said that it “strongly condemns the irresponsible actions of the Russian Federation and emphasizes that they pose a new challenge to regional security and stability in the Black Sea area.” “Such incidents demonstrate the Russian Federation’s disregard for international law and endanger not only the Romanian citizens’ safety but also NATO’s collective security,” it added. No casualties were reported.