Romania destroys explosive drone near major Black Sea gas project

A Romanian F-16 fighter jet has destroyed an explosive-laden maritime drone close to Europe's largest offshore gas project, hours after another drone entered the NATO member's airspace and crashed near the Ukrainian border.

Romania's President Nicuşor Dan blamed Russia for the latest incident and condemned what he called an escalation of "irresponsible incidents" by Moscow.

The maritime drone was spotted by a commercial vessel at 06:28 local time on Thursday, a few hundred metres from work at the Neptun Deep offshore gas project, around 80 nautical miles east of the Romanian city of Constanța.

Two Romanian F-16 fighter jets were scrambled and one destroyed the drone after authorities decided it posed a potential threat to the hundreds of people working at the site and to critical energy infrastructure.

Defence Minister Radu Miruță said the drone was carrying explosives and that Kyiv had confirmed it was not Ukrainian.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen described the incident as part of "an escalating campaign of threats" against the European Union.

"This is hybrid warfare," she said, accusing those responsible of seeking to unsettle European citizens and divide the bloc.

Neptun Deep is one of the largest energy projects under development in the Black Sea and is expected to begin producing natural gas in 2027.

It comes after Romania scrambled NATO fighter jets after a drone entered its airspace during a major Russian missile and drone attack on neighbouring Ukraine.

Romania's Defence Ministry said military radar detected a group of aerial targets close to the Ukrainian border, north of the eastern county of Tulcea, at 02:23 local time on Thursday.

Two Spanish F-18 fighter jets in Romania as part of NATO's air policing mission were scrambled to monitor the situation, while a Romanian IAR-330 SOCAT military helicopter was sent on a reconnaissance mission.

Authorities also issued an alert to people in the affected area.

The ministry said that at 03:21 a drone crossed into Romanian airspace about 13 kilometres east of Galați, a city close to the borders with Ukraine and Moldova.

Three minutes later, the Romanian helicopter crew reported that the drone had crashed about four kilometres north-east of the village of Grindu in Tulcea County.

The impact sparked a fire, which extinguished itself. No casualties or damage were reported and a military team was sent to secure the crash site.

Romania has not yet identified the origin of the drone.

The incident comes just four days after a Spanish F-18 shot down another drone after it entered Romanian airspace from Moldova.

Romania did not identify that aircraft either, although a NATO spokesperson said it appeared to be Russian. At thte time it was reported that it was the fourth drone shot down over Romania this year, after Romanian F-16s intercepted three Russian drones in July.

Romania, a member of both NATO and the European Union, shares a long border with Ukraine and has repeatedly reported Russian drones entering its airspace or debris falling on its territory since Moscow launched its invasion in 2022.

Poland also mobilised military aircraft and activated air defence systems during Thursday's Russian attacks on Ukraine, particularly in areas close to its border.