An investigation says the source of a strike on a Romanian residential building was a Russian drone.
Romanian President Nicusor Dan has shared findings from an investigation into a drone striking an apartment building in Galați on Thursday night. He said in a post on X the conclusion of a technical report by specialist investigators was “unequivocal” in saying the tone that crashed was Geran-2 drone of Russian origin. Russian President Vladimir Putin had denied this.
The incident saw a drone crash into a block of flats in the eastern Romanian city of Galati, near the country’s border with Ukraine, as Russia carried out further attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure.
Electrical components, control modules, engine and other key characteristics were analysed and compared to other Geran-2 drones that had previously crashed in Romanian territory.
“This is the unequivocal conclusion of the technical report finalized by Romanian state specialists. The investigation established this based on a substantial body of technical evidence,” Mr Dan said.
The drone was tracked by radar in Romanian airspace and crashed onto the roof of a building in Galati, the defence ministry in Bucharest said.
The impact was followed by a fire. Two people suffered minor injuries, and several people were evacuated.
Police and other agencies responded at the scene. Galati is on the Danube River, east of the Moldova and Ukraine borders.
Sir Keir Starmer called the indecent a “serious violation of NATO airspace”.
He added: “The report also shows that the manufacturing markings, technical inscriptions, structural characteristics, and materials used follow the same technological process found in Geran-2 drones analysed in recent years.
“Physico-chemical analyses have confirmed the presence of the same types of materials and fuels repeatedly identified in devices from this series.
“Based on all these elements, the investigation unequivocally concludes that the fragments recovered in Galați come from a Geran-2 drone of Russian origin.”
View 2 ImagesA fire on top of a block of flats after a drone crash caused an explosion and fire on impact, in Galat(Image: ISU Galati via AP)
The Romanian president added that the incident held a “particular gravity” in its seriousness and that the Kremlin was the “sole responsible part”.
He said the findings will be communicated to NATO allies and European Union members.
He continued: “The fact that such a device struck a residential building in Romania, causing injuries and material damage, is of particular gravity, and the sole responsible party is Russia.
“Romania will continue to act together with its partners to strengthen security at the Alliance’s eastern border and to protect its citizens,” he said.
“Romania will not ignore or downplay any incident that endangers the lives of its citizens, national security, or the sovereignty of the Romanian state.”
NATO had already confirmed on Friday the drone was of Russian origin. The alliance’s secretary-general Mark Rutte said it “showed yet again the implications of (Russia’s) illegal war of aggression don’t stop at the border”.
Mr Dan said previously that his country would “order proportionate measures” and called for “a firm, coordinated and appropriate response” from allies.
He said Romania had also asked allies to deploy additional anti-drone capabilities to the country.
According to reports, two Romanian F-16 fighter jets were scrambled to intercept the drone.
Mr Dan said the jets had been unable to engage the drone as they could not destroy it without further endangering civilians.
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Russia had “crossed yet another line”, adding the bloc was preparing yet more sanctions on Moscow.
She said: “As we continue strengthening our security and deterrence, especially on our eastern border, we will keep increasing the pressure on Russia.”
Russia has been using long-range ballistic missiles and drones to damage Ukraine’s power grid and hammer cities, and Ukraine has braced for further heavy bombardments.
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Putin had accused Romania of jumping to conclusions after Mr Dan announced a a Russian consulate in Constanta would be closed and the consul in the city, a Black Sea port, declared persona non grata.
“No one can determine the origin of any aircraft until a proper forensic examination of that aircraft has been conducted,” Putin said at a press conference in Kazakhstan. “If they provide us with any objective data… in that case, we will give our assessment of what happened.”