- Discovery of Russian Attack Drone Remains in Romania
- Ukraine’s Claims Supported by Photographic Evidence
- Questions Surrounding Romania’s Initial Denials and National Security Concerns
On Romanian territory, the remains of a drone used in a Russian attack on a Ukrainian port have been discovered, according to the Romanian minister of defense.
Two days prior, he and other senior officials had “categorically” denied any cross-border incident.
Ukraine insisted that it had proof of the detonation.
According to the president of Romania, the attack, which is being investigated by the ministry of defense, would be a grave violation of Romania’s sovereignty.
Klaus Iohannis stated that an attack on Romania, which is a member of NATO, would be “completely unacceptable.”
Ukraine’s foreign ministry reported on Monday that Shahid drones “fell and exploded” in Romania on Sunday night, following the most recent Russian attack on the Ukrainian port of Izmail.
It described the incident as further evidence that Moscow poses a “huge threat” to Ukraine’s neighbors.
Now, the Romanian Minister of Defence, Angel Tilvar, has visited the Danube Delta region near the Ukrainian border and proclaimed the discovery of drone fragments.
The fragments are currently being analyzed to ascertain whether or not they originated from a Russian weapon.
After Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmitro Kuleba announced publicly that he had photographic evidence of the incident, it became difficult to refute Kyiv’s claims.
He stated that what had occurred was “completely evident” and that there was “no point in denying it.”
Romanian commentators have reacted angrily to the incident, demanding to know why the government denied an assault so swiftly and unequivocally, and suspecting a cover-up attempt.
“Is it because you still maintain the mentality of thirty years ago, when the ‘great sovereign’ desired everything that existed? Or was it simple ignorance?” Andrei Luca Popescu, a defense analyst, inquired about the period of communist control.
Very genuine threat
While it was wise not to terrify the public, lying in the age of geolocation and the internet was pointless.
“We will not invoke Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation for this,” he said, referring to the agreement that an armed attack on one member is an attack on all.
“However, we face a border war in which collateral damage is a very real and likely possibility.”
Russia has been assaulting Ukraine’s Danube port facilities for weeks after withdrawing from a Black Sea grain export arrangement.
The port of Izmail, across the Danube from Romania, was struck again early Wednesday, killing one person.
Oleh Kiper, the director of the regional military administration in Odesa, stated that the deceased was an agricultural worker and that the port and grain facilities were damaged.
Romanian officials do not explain their previous vehement denials of the drone incident. However, the defense minister is accepting responsibility for “misinforming” the president.
In an interview on Romanian television, the minister insisted that the discovered remains posed no threat.
The authorities are on high alert and will take additional measures to secure the airspace, he added. There will be additional observation locations and patrols.
It is unclear whether the drone was shot down and fragments landed in Romania, or whether it plummeted in Romania.
Before, the Romanian Ministry of Defence said it was monitoring Ukraine and the border in real time.
“At no point did the Russian Federation’s attack methods pose direct military threats to Romania’s national territory or territorial waters,” the ministry said in an earlier statement.
It is not the first occurrence to raise concerns about Ukraine’s civil war expanding westward.
In November of last year, when two Polish farmers were slain near the village of Przewodow, initial reports, including those from Kyiv, suggested that a Russian missile was responsible.
Later research indicated that remains of a Ukrainian air defence system missile intercepting a Russian missile killed the guys.
In April, a Russian missile was found in a Polish woodland after months of hiding. The Polish government was embarrassed.
Officials quickly clarified that the package appeared to be a decoy and contained no explosives. But they were never able to explain how it was able to pass through the border undetected.
