Romanian Defense Minister Angel Tilvar said that pieces of a drone could be found within his country’s territory on Wednesday. Moscow recently targeted Ukraine’s ports on the Danube River, a region that borders Romania.
Tilvar explained, “I confirm that in this area, pieces that may be of a drone were found,” adding they do not pose a threat. He said the parts would be taken for analysis to see if the origin can be determined.
Antena 3 CNN reporter Cătălina Smereca stated there was no evidence of an explosion:
“We are talking about an area with a lot of vegetation, very close to the banks of the Danube. This device fell, our [Romanian Defense Ministry] sources told us, but there is no evidence of an explosion.” She added, “Only a few pieces were found there, and investigations are underway to determine if it was indeed an explosion in the air, as there is no such evidence on the ground.”
NATO spokesperson Dylan White said the alliance is monitoring the situation:
“The Romanian authorities have confirmed that debris, possibly from a drone, has been found on Romanian soil, close to the border with Ukraine.” He continued, “Allies expressed strong solidarity with Romania. We continue to monitor the situation closely, and we remain in close contact with our ally Romania.”
On Monday, Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko claimed a Russian drone crossed into Romanian territory and exploded. The alleged incident occurred where the Danube River acts as a border between Ukraine and Romania. Russian strikes have targeted the Ukrainian port of Izmail.
After Kyiv made the assertion, the Romanian Defense Ministry vehemently denied the claim. “The Ministry of National Defense categorically denies information from the public space regarding a so-called situation that occurred during the night of September 3 to 4 in which Russian drones allegedly fell on the national territory of Romania,” it said.
Kyle Anzalone is the opinion editor of Antiwar.com, news editor of the Libertarian Institute, and co-host of Conflicts of Interest.
Romania is a NATO Member but it says drone parts found near its border with Ukraine pose no threat. The drones are not meant to target Romania but they accidentally get to its border. Ukraine blames everything on Russia. If Ukraine has drones that were given to them by the US and it reached Romania’s border or the border of another neighboring country, Ukraine would say the drone came from Russia.