Russian drones crash in Moldova and Romania as airspace violations are reported overnight | iNFOnews | Thompson-Okanagan's News Source
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Russian drones crash in Moldova and Romania as airspace violations are reported overnight

Original Publication Date February 13, 2025 - 5:56 AM

CHISINAU, Moldova (AP) — Russian drones crashed in Moldova and NATO member Romania as the two eastern European neighbors on Thursday reported violations of their airspace during Russia's overnight attacks on neighboring Ukraine’s Danube port.

The incidents were the latest in a string of airspace violations and drone fragment findings in Romania and Moldova since Russia launched its war on Ukraine.

The violations put “Moldovan lives at risk,” said Moldovan President Maia Sandu, adding that the drones were Iranian-designed Shahed unmanned aircraft that Moscow uses in its war on Ukraine.

According to Moldovan border police, several drones violated Moldova's airspace amid Russia's attack on Ukraine's Reni port. No one was hurt when the two drones slammed into fields in the country's south. An investigation was underway, national police said.

Daniel Voda, a spokesperson for the Moldovan government, told The Associated Press that both of the drones are of "Russian origin.”

“Russia’s war on Ukraine crossed into Moldova again,” Sandu said in a post on the social media platform X. “Russia respects no borders, attacks civilians, spreads terror. Its war on Ukraine is criminal.”

Moldova’s foreign ministry summoned the head of the Russian diplomatic mission in its capital, Chisinau, and condemned the “unacceptable violations” which “represent a serious threat to national security and the citizens” of Moldova. The ministry also presented the Russian diplomat with fragments of the drones as evidence.

The ministry separately terminated a 1998 Moldova-Russia agreement on cultural centers and said that "the Russian Cultural Center is to cease its activity in our country.”

In neighboring NATO member Romania, the Ministry of National Defense raised two F-16 fighter jets after its airspace was violated.

The ministry later said that drone fragments were found at two separate crash sites in uninhabited areas, several kilometers (miles) from the town of Reni.

The drones were determined to be Shahed drones “used by the Russian Federation" and had explosive charges onboard that were "destroyed upon impact with the ground.”

The ministry described the Russian attacks as “unjustified and in serious contradiction with the norms of international law.”

News from © The Associated Press, 2025
The Associated Press

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