A Romanian Air Force General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon participates in the Tactical Leadership Program in Albacete, Spain, September 24, 2024.
Joan Barth | Urban Sports | Getty Images
Romania’s president has accused Russia of deploying a maritime drone that was discovered near a major natural gas development and destroyed by the military on Thursday.
This development marks the latest example of the potential for Russia’s war in Ukraine to spill over beyond borders, highlighting the risks to critical infrastructure.
Romania’s Defense Minister Radudiner Mirša said in a series of Facebook posts that an F-16 fighter jet destroyed a maritime drone near the Neptune Deep gas project in the Black Sea on Thursday.
If Neptune Deep is developed, Romania will become the European Union’s largest natural gas producer. The platform, located approximately 99 miles off the coast, is scheduled to begin gas production in 2027.
In the wake of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, energy prices in Europe have risen sharply as Western governments slam Russia with sanctions and seek alternative sources of oil and gas.
Mirša announced on Thursday that the Romanian Coast Guard reported the presence of a drone on Thursday morning, 130 miles east of the Romanian city of Constanta, a few hundred meters from the Neptune Deep gas drilling operation.
Romania’s Defense Ministry then requested NATO approval to “control the situation,” he said.
“Following an assessment and in coordination with the President of Romania, the decision was taken to destroy the drone in order to protect the lives of the hundreds of personnel working on the platform and to protect critical infrastructure,” Mirša added.
“To ensure a quick response, two Romanian F-16 fighter jets were scrambled with orders to engage. The drone was safely destroyed.”
President slams Moscow
Romanian President Nikxo Dan said in a post on X that the operation was a “race against time”, adding that the drones came from Russia.
“I strongly condemn the escalation of this kind of irresponsible incident on the part of the Russian Federation,” he said. “Together with our NATO allies, we remain vigilant to protect ourselves and repel such challenges.”
CNBC has reached out to the Russian government for comment.
Romania shares a border with Ukraine and borders Russia across the Black Sea. Mirša said Romanian authorities had confirmed that the drone was not of Ukrainian origin. According to a Romanian investigation, data showed that only one drone was involved in the incident.
A NATO spokesperson told CNBC that the military alliance is “aware of the scramble of two Romanian Air Force F-16 aircraft following the detection of a maritime drone in Romania’s exclusive economic zone in the Black Sea.”
“One of the aircraft successfully engaged the drone, demonstrating continued readiness to respond to any potential threat,” they said.
A series of Russian aircraft have violated Romanian airspace in recent weeks, and in late July the Romanian air force shot down a drone.
Romania’s Dan said at the time that his country and its allies treat such incidents with “the utmost seriousness” and that the airspace violations were “unacceptable and unacceptable.”
In May, an apartment building in the city of Garasi, near the Romanian-Ukrainian border, was attacked by a Russian drone.
