By Victoria Friedman
Potential fragments from a Russian unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) were found 3 miles within Romanian territory following Russian air attacks on Ukrainian ports on the Danube, the Romanian Ministry of National Defence (MoND) said on Nov. 11.
In a statement, MoND said that its radars detected the presence of UAVs in an area neighboring Romanian airspace, which triggered “preventative activation of air defence systems.” Weather conditions did not permit the scrambling of fighter jets.
The ministry said that just after midnight on Nov. 11, it issued an alert to residents in Tulcea County, located on the Black Sea and bordering Ukraine.
It said that a “large number of explosions were observed on the Ukrainian side of the Danube, in the area of the Port of Izmail.”
At around 1:09 a.m. local time, the MoND was informed that a drone had made impact with the ground in Grindu, three miles south of the border with Ukraine.
“Teams made up of military personnel went on-site and reported the presence of possible drone fragments,” according to the statement.
Following the statement from the defense ministry, Romanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Toiu Oana said in a post on X: “Another Russian reckless attacks on Ukraine with consequences on Romanian soil. Last night’s Russian bombing against Ukrainian commercial ports’ infrastructures resulted in drone fragments falling in an inhabited area on Romanian territory.”
Oana said that similar incidents had occurred before, and citing recent sanctions imposed by the European Union and the United States, said Romania would be preparing further sanctions against Moscow.
Romania had reported in September that it had detected a Russian UAV during strikes on Ukrainian targets near the Danube River.
Drone Warfare
The reported sightings and downings of drones in Europe have increased in recent months, including incidents reported in Belgium, Sweden, Denmark, and Poland.
While European officials have blamed some of the incursions on Russia, Moscow has denied connection to the incidents.
In the almost five years since the start of the Russia-Ukraine war, drones have become increasingly utilized on the battlefield.
According to a post written by John Lough, an associate fellow for the Russia and Eurasia Programme at the British Chatham House think tank, Ukraine has increased its attacks on Russia’s energy infrastructure using a combination of missiles and drones.
Meanwhile, Russia “has upgraded its main Shahed-type attack drone, doubling the size of its warhead and increasing its range and speed. Production is now at a level over five times higher than a year ago and set to more than double,” Lough wrote in the Nov. 10 commentary.
According to TASS, the state-run Russian news agency, Russian air defenses shot down 37 Ukrainian fixed-wing UAVs over Russian Federation territory on the night of Nov. 10.
Ukrinform, Ukraine’s national news agency, said that on Nov. 10, Russia deployed 4,286 kamikaze drones during its operations overnight, which included dozens of conventional airstrikes, referencing a post on Facebook from the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was in Kherson on Nov. 11 to mark the third anniversary of Ukraine retaking the region from Russia. While there, Zelenskyy held a meeting on security and socio-economic issues facing Kherson, during which the issue of aerial security was raised.
Zelenskyy said in a Nov. 11 post on X that the focus was on “the number of Russian drones during attacks, countering them with the forces of a single unified radio-electronic warfare center and mobile fire groups, development and scaling of the number of [electronic warfare] systems, [and the] protection of roads and logistics with special nets.”
Europe’s Drone Wall
European nations are also taking the threat of drones seriously.
Last month, the European Commission (EC) stated that Europe must prepare to combat new forms of warfare, including sabotage of undersea cables, cyber attacks, and drone incursions.
On Oct. 16, EC President Ursula von der Leyen unveiled proposals for four flagship defense projects, including a drone wall and fortification of Europe’s eastern border, as part of measures to boost defense by 2030.
The European Drone Defense Initiative—which Von der Leyen and others have referred to in the past as a “drone wall”—is envisaged as having a 360-degree approach, “as a multilayered, technologically advanced system with interoperable counter-drone capabilities” for detection, tracking, and neutralization.
The Eastern Flank Watch will “integrate the air defence and counter-drone systems with a set of ground defence systems with maritime security in the Baltic and Black Seas and systems for increased situational awareness, as well as internal security and border management.”
If the European Council decides to endorse the proposals, the drone wall could be fully functional by the end of 2027, with the eastern flank defenses expected to be functional by the end of 2028.
