Romania shoots down drone in its airspace for first time: president

BUCHAREST

Romania shot down a drone in its airspace on July 24, its president said, a first since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

The drone was shot down around 114 kilometres (70 miles) from Bucharest, according to the defence ministry of the NATO member bordering Ukraine.

"We had a drone in our airspace. It was shot down a few minutes ago, around 11:00 am (0800 GMT) by a Romanian pilot flying an F-16," President Nicusor Dan told a press conference.

"It's important to note that the area was uninhabited, which is why the pilot was able to fire from above, and now teams from various institutions are investigating to provide all the details about the incident," he added.

The drone was shot down over the village of Padina, the defence ministry said.

Surveillance systems first detected an aerial target at 9:39 am and two Eurofighter Typhoon jets of the Italian Air Force and two F-16 fighter jets of the Romanian Air Force were sent to monitor the situation.

"At 11:02, a Romanian Air Force F-16 aircraft engaged the target and shot it down," the defense ministry said.

Drone incursions in Romania have been detected dozens of times since the start of the Ukraine war, but Romanian forces had so far not successfully shot any down.

A drone smashed into an apartment building in May, wounding two people and drawing condemnation from NATO and the European Union, which blamed Russia and warned against further incursions.