A Spanish F/A-18 fighter jet, flying as part of NATO's air-policing mission, shot down a drone that unlawfully entered Romanian airspace early on Sunday, according to a statement from Romania's defence ministry.
The aircraft was tracked entering Romania from neighbouring Moldova roughly 24 kilometres north of the southeastern city of Galați. The ministry did not specify the drone's origin.
Authorities said the Spanish jet acquired radar contact with the drone and was granted clearance to engage. The interception occurred at 5:01 a.m. local time, when the fighter fired on the unmanned aircraft and brought it down.
Fragments from the destroyed drone were reported to have landed in an uninhabited area between two villages. Officials confirmed there were no injuries and no damage to property linked to the debris.
This incident is the fourth drone Romania has shot down so far this year amid a series of incursions related to Russian attacks on neighbouring Ukraine. Romanian territory shares a 614-kilometre border with Ukraine and the country is a member of NATO. Russian drones have entered Romanian airspace repeatedly during more than four years of war, the defence ministry noted.
Romanian authorities have also found drifting mines in the Black Sea, a development that has raised concerns about security along key energy and commercial shipping routes.
In July, Romanian F-16 pilots intercepted and shot down three Russian drones that breached the country's airspace. Those engagements were the first such shoot-downs after dozens of reported incursions since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Moscow began, the defence ministry said.
Earlier in 2026, a Russian drone crashed into an apartment building in Galați during an overnight attack on targets across the border in Ukraine. That episode injured two people.
Sunday's interception underscores the continued possibility that attacks near NATO's eastern border could spill over into allied territory and require forces deployed under the alliance's air-policing mission to respond. The defence ministry's account did not assign responsibility for the drone or provide additional technical details about the aircraft that engaged it.
Officials have so far reported no civilian harm from this latest incident, with the wreckage confined to an unpopulated area. The defence ministry did not release images or further telemetry about the engagement.
As Romania continues to encounter aerial and maritime threats in proximity to the conflict in Ukraine, the recorded incidents highlight ongoing security pressures in the region and the operational role of NATO air-policing assets stationed to monitor allied airspace.