Sawt Falasteen - Russian drone hits Romania apartment block, drawing NATO, EU outrage

Romania summoned the Russian ambassador and President Nicusor Dan convened a national defence council meeting to discuss "the most serious incident to have affected our national territory" since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.

The drone smashed into the apartment building in the city of Galati, close to the border with Ukraine, sparking a fire and sending a 14-year-old boy and a 53-year-old woman to hospital with serious injuries, officials said.

Drone incursions in Romania have been detected dozens of times since the start of the Russian offensive against Ukraine in 2022, but the strike marked the first time a residential building has been hit.

EU chief Ursula von der Leyen said Russia's "war of aggression had crossed yet another line" with the strike. "We stand in full solidarity with Romania and its people," she said on social media, pledging to increase deterrence on the EU's Eastern border and "to keep increasing pressure on Russia".

NATO condemned Moscow's "recklessness" and vowed "absolute solidarity" with Romania, while France's Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot slammed what he called "an irresponsible act".

"Russia's reckless behaviour is a danger to us all," NATO chief Mark Rutte wrote on social media after a call with the Romanian president.

"I affirmed that NATO stands ready to defend every inch of Allied territory," Rutte said

Maia Sandu, the president of Moldova, which lies between Romania and Ukraine and has also seen repeated drone incursions and debris falling on its soil, said Russia was a "danger to all".

- Jets scrambled -

"During the night of May 28-29, the Russian Federation resumed drone attacks on civilian and infrastructure targets in Ukraine, near the river border with Romania," the Romanian defence ministry said.

"One of these drones entered Romanian airspace, was tracked by radar as far as the southern part of the city of Galati, and crashed onto the roof of an apartment building, with the impact triggering a fire," it said.

Two F-16 fighter jets were scrambled after the drones were detected in Romanian airspace, the defence ministry said.

A nationwide air raid alert had been issued in neighbouring Ukraine overnight in anticipation of Russian strikes, with at least two people wounded following the attack in southern Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia, according to local authorities

- Growing threats -

"This incident represents a serious and irresponsible escalation on the part of the Russian Federation," Romania's defence ministry said, adding Bucharest had "requested measures to accelerate the transfer of anti-drone capabilities to Romania".

NATO-member states bordering Ukraine or Russia, including Romania, Latvia, Estonia and Poland are increasingly exposed to incursions into their territory by drones from both warring sides.

Latvia, which borders Russia, appointed a new government on Thursday, two weeks after the collapse of the previous administration due to a row over stray Ukrainian drone incursions, which exposed the weaknesses of the country's air defences.

- Turkish ship hit -

Ukraine's navy said on Friday that a Russian drone had hit a Turkish cargo ship that had left the port city of Odesa, sparking a fire and wounding two crew members.

Russia, meanwhile, said its air defences had intercepted more than 200 Ukrainian drones overnight, with one person killed in the Volgograd region after a drone strike on a chemical factory.

The attacks followed a series of Russian strikes on Ukraine on Saturday in one of the most severe attacks since the start of the war.

Russia has been threatening to escalate bombardments in retaliation for a Ukrainian strike that, according to Moscow, killed 21 people at a school in occupied Ukrainian territory.

Moscow announced Monday it had started a campaign of "systematic" strikes on Kyiv, after battering Ukraine with hundreds of drones and a hypersonic missile over the weekend, and called for diplomats and foreigners to leave the Ukrainian capital.

Z.Ramadan--SF-PST