Romania, a member of NATO, reported that one of its fighter jets detected a drone entering the country's airspace on Saturday, September 13, 2025. This happened while Russia was launching new attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure.
The drone went about 10 kilometres (around 6 miles) into Romanian territory, near the border village of Chilia Veche. It was detected by a Romanian F-16 fighter jet.
Romanian fighter jets were scrambled to monitor the drone. According to Romanian officials, the jets were very close to shooting it down, but the drone eventually left their airspace and returned to Ukraine.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the Ukrainian President, commented on the incident:
"Russian drones have been in different regions of Ukraine all day… This cannot be a coincidence, a mistake, or the initiative of some lower-level commanders. It is an obvious expansion of the war by Russia – and this is exactly how they act."
The drone did not fly over any residential areas and caused no damage or injuries.
This is not the first time this has happened. Romania has repeatedly reported finding pieces of drones on its soil, and this incident follows a similar one in Poland earlier this week, which triggered NATO to take new defensive measures.
Ionut Mosteanu, Romania's Defence Minister, spoke about the incident:
"They were very close to downing it. The drone was flying very low, and at one point it headed towards Ukraine. The information we have now is that the drone left our airspace and returned to Ukraine."
The war between Russia and Ukraine began in February 2014, with Russia's invasion and annexation of the Crimean Peninsula.