The drone crashed in Galati, located on the Danube in eastern Romania, early on Friday. Two fighter jets were scrambled when the craft was detected in Romanian airspace, the AFP news agency reports.
But at a press conference later in the day, Romanian authorities admitted that they barely had time to react.
"The time we had to act - four minutes - was very short," said General Gheorghe Maxim, according to AFP.
The drone in question was "a Shahed variant," writes Zelenskyy, referring to the Iranian model that Russia now manufactures under license.
“Ready to support”
And in light of Romania's difficulties in dealing with the threat, Zelenskyy is offering help. Ukraine has developed much-touted drone expertise during the war, which other EU countries have previously said they want to share. "We are ready to support Romania in any way necessary," the Ukrainian president promises on X.
Many leaders in Europe and the world have condemned the incident. Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte wrote on social media that he had spoken on the phone with Romanian President Nicusor Dan and promised "absolute solidarity" from the military alliance.
“I confirmed that NATO is ready to defend every inch of the territory of its member states,” he writes on X, adding that “Russia’s irresponsible actions are a danger to us all.”
Nicusor Dan, for his part, called a meeting of Romania's Defense Council to discuss "the most serious incident to hit our country" since Russia's full-scale invasion of neighboring Ukraine in 2022.
New sanctions
The drone incident shows that "Russia's aggression poses a real threat to the Black Sea region and all of Europe," according to Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha on X. And EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen writes on social media that Russia's war of aggression and the drone strike "crosses another line" and that pressure on Russia will increase.
Oana Toiu wrote this morning that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is summoning Russia's ambassador to Bucharest. Later, it was announced that the Russian Consulate General in the Romanian Black Sea city of Constanta would be closed, and the Consul General would be declared "persona non grata," effectively being expelled from the country.
Oana discussed the situation with EU Foreign Affairs Chief Kaja Kallas, according to an X post.
“I received assurances of strong European solidarity,” Oana writes, adding: “We will accelerate the implementation of the new package of sanctions against Russia.”
