Romania issues air raid alert, warns residents of potential Shahed drone debris - video
An air raid alert was issued in northern Tulcea County in Romania due to a Russian Shahed attack on Ukraine's port infrastructure overnight, the local channel Digi 24 reported on July 24.
Romania has been a member of NATO since 2004.
Residents of the county were warned about possible falling of drone debris.
The Tulcea's Emergency Situations Inspectorate issued an air raid alert at 2:20 a.m. for the county's northern part.
The structures responsible for the border areas' defense and surveillance noticed several drones approaching.
“They should follow the instructions in the message and should not panic," the institution added.
"Territorial defense and public order structures are ready to provide all the necessary support to people who ask for it, and we once again clearly state that no part of our territory was attacked by Russia."
112 emergency line received 10 calls from residents who reported the sounds of explosions, firefighters reported.
"Most calls came from Tulcea county, people reported explosions, but there were also calls in which citizens asked for information, and the operators of the control center of the Inspectorate gave them all the requested information to understand what what they heard was happening in Ukraine," the report said.
The air raid alert was lifted at 3:46 a.m.
Russian drones in Romania
Russia massively attacked the south of Ukraine with Shaheds on the night of Sept. 4, 2023. Iranian-made kamikaze drones also fell and detonated in Romania, a NATO member, Ukrainian Foreign Affairs Ministry representative Oleh Nikolenko said.
23 out of 32 Shaheds were shot down that night, hits were recorded in Odesa and Dnipropetrovsk oblasts, Ukrainian Air Force reported. Russia once again attacked the infrastructure in Odesa Oblast's Izmail district, which borders Romania.
The Romanian Defense Ministry "categorically denied" the information about the falling debris at first. The means of attack used by Russia "did not pose a direct military threat to Romania's territory or its territorial waters," the Ministry said.
Ukraine has photos evidencing the Shahed fall in Romania, the Ukrainian Foreign Minister, Dmytro Kuleba, said after that.
Romanian National Defense Minister, Angel Tilver, admitted for the first time that drone debris fell in Romania on Sept. 6. Bucharest launched an investigation and reported the incident to the NATO on the same day. Romanian President Klaus Iohannis called it "a serious violation of sovereignty."
NATO members expressed "strong solidarity" with Romania, their statement was published by Romania's ambassador to NATO, Dan Neculescu.
However, the Alliance does not see any signs of a deliberate Russian attack on Romania, Stoltenberg said on Sept. 7.
"We do not have any information that would indicate a deliberate attack by Russia, and we await the results of the ongoing investigation."
"There are no indications that the downing of Russian drones in Romania was a deliberate attack on a NATO ally," he reiterated on Sept. 28.
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