Reports: Russia Hits NATO Member Romania With Kamikaze Drone

A Russian kamikaze drone on Wednesday flew into NATO air space and detonated near a Romanian village, Ukrainian news reports said, but official Bucharest said the fact of the strike wasn’t confirmed and that they would check.

The Iran-manufactured Shahed robot plane reportedly struck and blew up in the vicinity of the Danube River shoreside hamlet of Plaura, in southeastern Romania.

Ukrainian social media video recorded in the river port city of Izmail, opposite Plaura, showed an orange flash lighting up the night horizon and a booming blast on the Romanian side of the river. Flames and smoke reaching hundreds of meters into the sky were visible following the explosion. A Russian kamikaze drone strike against Izmail had been in progress at the time.

A Wednesday Ukrainian Air Force statement said Russian operators based in Crimea launched the Kremlin’s latest drone raid shortly after midnight.

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With winter already approaching, the latest attack renewed discussions about a potentially unforgiving winter for Ukrainians and what the future might hold under the upcoming US administration.

Civilian air defense networks closely tracking the incoming strike reported almost all the explosives-toting UAVs appeared to be flying in two waves east of and parallel to the Danube River.

Anti-aircraft gunners, missile operators and tactical jamming teams in engagements across the country knocked down 17 Shahed kamikaze drones, six reconnaissance drones and two loitering strike drones, the official Kyiv statement said. “Most” of the kills were, per that report, in the airspace above the southwestern Odesa region, where the Danube separates Ukraine and Romania.

Ukrainian civil defense networks reported impacts after 2 a.m. local time in the vicinity of Izmail. Local social media variously reported between six to ten ground explosions. Odesa region air defense authorities called an all-clear by 3:45 a.m.

The Ukrainian government-funded Ukrinform news agency, citing air defense and civilian officials, said that in Izmail, port infrastructure was damaged and that at least one Russian kamikaze drone hit an upper floor of a five-story residential building.

A statement by the Izmail District State Administration reported destroyed or broken windows, a smashed stairwell and substantial damage to the front facade of an apartment building. There was no fire but three residents were injured and hospitalized, that report said.

A press statement by Romania’s Defense Ministry said two Romanian F-16 fighter jets took off at 2:19 a.m. (approximately an hour after the Russian drones launched from Crimea), in response to the incoming raid towards Izmail. The aircraft returned to Borcea Air Base at 4:20 a.m. The statement mentioned no engagements by the F-16s.

An investigation team would deploy to the field to check the possibility a Russian strike drone hitting Romanian territory, the official statement said.

“The Ministry of National Defense has ordered measures to conduct investigations in the field, in the vicinity of Plauru, to search for possible objects that may have fallen on national territory,” the statement said in part.

During the Russian attack, ten locals called in reports to Romania’s emergency phone service 112 that they heard an explosion near their home, the Romanian Digi 24 news platform reported.

Romanian authorities last confirmed a Russian weapon struck Romanian territory in early September 2023. At the time, Romanian President Klaus Iohannis criticized the strike as a “violation of our sovereign air space” and said he had discussed the attack with Jens Stoltenberg, the NATO secretary general.

Russia, since early 2023, has, as a declared war aim, tried to stop all Ukrainian sea exports, particularly the major profit-earner, grain.

A Kremlin attempt to use its Black Sea Fleet to blockade Ukraine’s ports during the first year of the war failed after multiple Ukrainian anti-ship missiles – to date – sank and sent to the bottom about one of every three Russian warships operating in the Black Sea, and forced the survivors to retreat to mainland Russia.

The Kremlin has continued its attempts to interfere with Ukrainian grain shipments by launching long-range weapons at Ukrainian shoreside freight handling facilities.

On Monday, the most recent attack appearing to target Ukrainian port infrastructure before the Wednesday drone raid, a Russian missile landed near the Black Sea port city of Odesa and damaged an office building, shoreside warehouses, and civilian vehicles.

Russian strike planners launch drone attacks on targets inside Ukraine almost nightly, most often using slow-flying propeller-driven drones imported from Iran. The Kremlin has said it only hits military targets or critical infrastructure in Ukraine. Kyiv officials have said the Russian bombardment mostly strikes Ukrainian homes and businesses and accused strike planners of complicity in war crimes.

Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022 in an attempt to return its southern neighbor to Moscow’s control, by invoking regime change and ending Western-style democratic government. At the time, the Kremlin said closer NATO relations with Ukraine was a direct threat to Russian national security.

Since then, NATO states have slowly strengthened their support to Ukrainian resistance to Russian attacks and bombardments, but with few exceptions, NATO members have said the Atlantic Alliance has no intention to intervene in Ukraine directly, because of the need to avoid confronting Russia.