Romania said it had scrambled two F-16 fighters on Tuesday evening during a Russian aerial attack on Ukraine.
The Ukrainian Air Force said on Wednesday morning that it recorded Russian drone strikes in 14 locations across northern, eastern, and southern Ukraine, where it downed 79 out of 114 drones.
Romania’s Ministry of Defense, in a Wednesday Facebook update, said it had scrambled two F-16 jets at 11:15 p.m. on Tuesday and issued alerts to locals in Tulcea County bordering Ukraine’s Odesa region during the attack.
“The Russian Federation resumed drone attacks on civilian and port infrastructure targets in Ukraine on the night of July 1, near the border with Romania,” the update states.
“Starting at 11:15 p.m., two Romanian Air Force F-16 aircraft took off from Borcea Air Base 86 to monitor the air situation,” it adds.
The statement also condemned the Russian attack on civilian infrastructure in Ukraine.
“The Ministry of National Defense sends a firm message of condemnation of these attacks carried out by the Russian Federation against Ukrainian civilian targets and infrastructure elements, which are unjustified and in serious contradiction with the norms of international law,” it says.
Russian kamikaze murder drones have struck Romania in the past, in areas near the Ukrainian border – including once in July 2024 when three drones exploded inside Romania and caused fires in the area.
In September 2024, two Romanian F-16s reportedly intercepted a Russian Shahed kamikaze drone entering Romanian airspace, but did not receive permission to shoot down the drone, since it would have been illegal under Romanian national law, according to reports at the time.
Ukraine’s former Commander-in-Chief Valeri Zaluzhny, who became the country’s ambassador to the UK, said in March 2025 that Romanian military personnel had asked him not to reveal details on Russian drones downed in Romania.
Zaluzhny said Romanian officials have also blamed Ukraine for using electronic warfare (EW) systems to divert Russian drones that eventually crossed into Romanian airspace.
“They called me from Romania and asked me not to say that Shaheds had fallen there. Then they called again and said, ‘Why did you turn on your EW systems? The drones flew to us.’ I said, ‘Then shoot them down. You’ve got 40 F-16s sitting there,’” Zaluzhny recounted.
Romania, which provided some of the training to Ukrainian F-16 pilots, is expected to provide military aid to Ukraine following the recent election of pro-Ukrainian President Nicusor Dan.