NATO Scrambles Fighter Jets After Russian Long-Range Attacks
Romania has deployed fighter jets in response to a Russian missile and drone bombardment of Ukraine that encroached on the NATO member.
Russian attacks in its full-scale invasion have often resulted in drones drifting near or into Romania, which borders Ukraine, putting the country on high alert and testing the resolve of NATO’s collective defense pledge.
In the latest incident, Romania’s Defense Ministry said on Wednesday that two F-16 aircraft were scrambled after Russian drones had attacked civilian and infrastructure targets in Ukraine, near its river border with Romania’s Tulcea County.
The drones were detected near Romanian airspace toward Valcove at just after 2:30 a.m. local time. Two F-16 aircraft from the Romanian Air Force were scrambled from the 86th Air Base in Fetesti, and the country’s air defense systems were switched to firing positions.
Just after 5 a.m., another group of drones was spotted heading toward Ismail and the air alert ended at 5:42 a.m. with no unauthorized breach of Romanian airspace reported.
“The forces of the Ministry of National Defense maintain the surveillance and coordination measures necessary to protect the population and the national territory,” the Romanian Defense Ministry said, according to a translation.
It was the second day in a row that Bucharest scrambled fighter jets in response to Russian drone attacks in the Tulcea region, directly across the border from the Ukrainian port of Izmail, which Russia has repeatedly attacked.
On Tuesday, two Romanian F-16 fighter jets took off and the country’s air defense systems were put in “firing positions,” according to the Defense Ministry in Bucharest.
Ukrainian authorities reported on Tuesday that a large Russian drone strike on civilian and port infrastructure had damaged a Panamanian-flagged ship and other facilities at Izmail. No casualties were reported.
Images purporting to show the aftermath of the Russian attacks showed flames coming from the wreckage of an unidentified building.
There have been repeated incidents of Russian drones landing near or inside Romanian territory. On March 26, a Russian Shahed‑type drone entered Romanian airspace during an attack on Ukraine’s Odesa region and crashed about 2 km (1.2 miles) from the village of Parches in Tulcea County.
Romania adopted a law last year allowing it to shoot down drones that breach its airspace, although this action has not been carried out so far. Last month, Ukraine and Romania announced they would produce drones together in Romania using up to 200 million euros in EU funding.
Separately, a Russian missile strike on the city of Dnipro on Tuesday killed five people and injured at least 27 others, according to local authorities.
Newsweek's reporters and editors used Martyn, our Al assistant, to help produce this story. Learn more about Martyn.
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This story was originally published April 15, 2026 at 5:06 AM.