Romanian Defence Minister Angel Tîlvăr said on Wednesday, the 6th of September, two days after Romanian officials denied any cross-border incident, that remnants of the drone used in the Russian attack on a Ukrainian port have been found on Romanian territory, as reported by BBC.
Following Ukraine’s announcement on Monday, the 4th of September, that Shahed drones had “fell and detonated” in Romania after the Russian attack in Izmail, Romanian Defence Minister Angel Tilvar travelled to the Danube Delta region near the Ukrainian border and confirmed the discovery of drone fragments. An investigation is currently under way to establish whether the fragments are from a Russian drone.
After Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitro Kuleba showed photographic evidence of the incident, officials found it difficult to rebut Kyiv’s claims.
The incident has sparked anger among Romanians,
who question the government’s initially quick denial and suspect a possible cover-up. Defence analyst Andrei Luca Popescu criticised the government’s initial reaction, questioning whether it stemmed from outdated thinking or a “sheer stupidity”. He stressed that there was no point raise panick, but there was a need for honesty in the digital age and acknowledged that there was a real danger of living on the border of a war zone.
Romanian officials have not clarified their previous denial regarding the drone incident and the Minister of Defence took responsibility for “misinforming” the President. The exact circumstances of how the drone ended up in Romania are still unclear, but
the Minister assured that the debris found did not pose a threat
and that security measures would be improved, as well as that the attack methods used by the Russian Federation did not pose a direct military threat to Romanian national territory or territorial waters.
Read also: One dead in Russian attack on the port of Ismail; Ukraine makes progress on the front lines