Romania shoots down second drone breaching its airspace, defence ministry says

Romania said on Saturday that it had shot down a second drone after it entered the country's airspace in as many days.

The drone was intercepted over a sparsely populated area near the border with Ukraine after being detected by radar, prompting the Romanian Air Force to scramble two F-16 fighter jets.

President Nicușor Dan said the drone was brought down west of Sfântu Gheorghe in the Danube Delta.

While authorities did not identify the origin of Saturday's drone, prosecutors confirmed that the drone shot down on Friday was Russian, marking the first time Romania had intercepted a Russian drone after dozens of previous airspace violations.

Romania, which shares a 650-kilometre border with Ukraine, says Russian drones have entered its airspace around 30 times since Moscow began targeting Ukrainian ports along the Danube following its full-scale invasion in 2022.

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A Russian ballistic missile strike in Ukraine’s Kyiv region has killed 10 people and injured nearly 100 others at an event involving representatives of the country’s defence industry.

The attack took place on Friday 24 July at a site near the Ukrainian capital where a defence industry event was being held.

Earlier this year, a Russian drone crashed into an apartment building in the Romanian town of Galați, injuring two people in the first attack to cause casualties in a populated area of a NATO member state during the war.

Romania's army chief has also warned that intensified Russian strikes near the Ukrainian port of Odesa are increasing pressure on vital energy and trade routes in the Black Sea.

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