Romania reports Russian drone in its airspace as Poland scrambles jets again [View all]

Source: The Guardian/AFP

Sat 13 Sep 2025 20.51 EDT


Romania became the latest Nato member state to report a drone incursion into its airspace , with Poland scrambling aircraft in response to fresh Russian drone strikes just over the border in Ukraine.

Romania’s defence ministry said on Saturday its airspace had been breached by a drone during a Russian attack on infrastructure in neighbouring Ukraine. Romania scrambled two F-16 fighter jets late on Saturday to monitor the situation after the strikes, the ministry said in statement.

The jets “detected a drone in national airspace” and tracked it until “it disappeared from the radar” near the Romanian village of Chilia Veche, it added.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned that Russia was deliberately expanding its drone operations and that the west needed to respond with tougher sanctions and closer defence cooperation. The latest drone incursions were “an obvious expansion of the war by Russia”, he said. “The Russian military knows exactly where their drones are headed and how long they can operate in the air.”

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/sep/14/romania-reports-russian-drone-in-its-airspace-as-poland-scrambles-jets-again