Romania destroys drone near offshore gas project, blames Russia

Smoke rises from missiles launched by Russia, in Kyiv, Ukraine, on August 20, 2026.[AFP]

A Romanian F-16 fighter jet on Thursday destroyed a marine drone near an offshore gas project, with Romania's president blaming Russia for the latest incident involving the NATO member bordering Ukraine.

Unauthorised drone activity has become increasingly frequent in recent months across eastern European countries as Ukraine fights off a Russian invasion launched in 2022, with both countries increasingly relying on drone warfare.

In the latest incident, the drone that was destroyed was "loaded with explosives" and did not originate from Ukraine, defence minister Radu Miruta said on Facebook.

"I strongly condemn the escalation of such irresponsible incidents on the part of the Russian Federation," Romanian president Nicusor Dan said on X.

European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen also slammed "an escalating campaign of threats" against the bloc, "unsettling our citizens and seeking to divide our Union".

"This is hybrid warfare," she wrote on X.

The drone was spotted at 6:28 am local time (0328 GMT) by a commercial vessel, hundreds of metres from the offshore gas project Neptun Deep and 80 nautical miles east of the Black Sea city of Constanta, according to a press release from the defence ministry.

Two Romanian F-16 aircraft were deployed to respond, and one of them destroyed it.

Hundreds of people are currently working at Neptun Deep, according to the government. Neptun Deep is due to start production in 2027.

In early June, a Ukrainian maritime drone exploded in Romania's Black Sea port of Constanta without causing casualties.

Kyiv said the drone had been knocked off course by Russian electronic interference.

NATO has shot down four aerial drones in Romania recently, with the latest incident happening during last weekend.

The eastern European country also reported an aerial drone crash on Thursday following Russian strikes on Ukraine.

It fell in an unpopulated area four kilometres (2.5 miles) northeast of the village of Grindu in eastern Romania, close to the border.

No casualties were reported.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday urged a global response to Moscow's "escalation" of the four-year war after Russian bombardments killed at least 16 people in Kyiv and surrounding areas overnight.