Drone penetrates NATO airspace in Romania during massive Russian attack on Ukraine
NATO fighter jets were scrambled overnight in Romania and Poland after Russian forces launched one of the largest air assaults in weeks on cities across Ukraine, officials in Warsaw and Bucharest confirmed on Wednesday.
Romania’s Defense Ministry said a drone crossed roughly 5 miles into its airspace before disappearing from radar. The aircraft was tracked intermittently as it moved along the Moldovan-Romanian border. No crashes or debris have been found, the ministry added, noting that specialist teams are prepared to begin ground searches, News.Az reports, citing ABC News.
The alert prompted two German Eurofighters and two Romanian F-16s to take off, while Poland placed its air defenses on maximum readiness. Polish military officials said NATO jets—including Polish, Dutch, Norwegian, and Spanish aircraft—and German Patriot systems remained on alert for about four hours. No violations of Polish airspace were reported.
Ukraine’s Interior Ministry said at least 10 people were killed in a strike on the western city of Ternopil, where two nine-story residential buildings were hit. Another 37 people were injured. Hundreds of rescuers are working across multiple sites, the ministry said.
Ukraine’s air force reported that Russia launched 476 drones and 48 missiles overnight, focusing attacks on the Lviv, Ternopil, and Kharkiv regions. Defenders shot down or suppressed 442 drones and 41 missiles. Impacts from 34 drones and seven missiles were recorded across 14 locations, with falling debris reported in six areas.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said attacks were reported “across the entire country,” including in Ternopil, Ivano-Frankivsk, Lviv, Kyiv, Mykolaiv, Cherkasy, Chernihiv, and Dnipro.
“Every brazen attack against normal life indicates that the pressure on Russia is insufficient,” he wrote on Telegram, calling for stronger measures to hold Moscow accountable and for continued support to strengthen Ukraine’s air defenses.
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