As of: March 29, 2024, 3:09 p.m
By: Kilian Beck
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Debris in Romania could have come from a Russian drone. Debris from the attacked neighboring country repeatedly ends up in the NATO state.
Bucharest – Another drone may have crashed near the border with Ukraine in Romania. The Ministry of Defense in Bucharest announced on Friday that “fragments that could have come from a missile (drone)” had been identified on Thursday evening (March 28) in an agricultural area near the city of Braila on the Danube. The incident is being investigated. Braila is 30 kilometers as the crow flies from the Ukrainian Danube port of Reni, which has repeatedly been the target of Russian attacks in the Ukraine war. On Good Friday, Ukrainian air defense reported heavy Russian missiles and drone attacks.
Drone debris in the park: Debris from a Russian drone was recovered in Romania in 2023. (Archive image) © Oleh Tymoshenko/imago
As early as 2023, drones crashed several times over Romania
Last year, Russian drones crashed on Romanian soil in this region several times. The last known incident was on December 14, 2023. Romania's Foreign Ministry summoned the Russian ambassador at that time. NATO did not assume that Russia intended to attack the alliance. According to Romanian media, the suspected drone crashed about ten kilometers southeast of Braila on a spit of land between two arms of the Danube (Great Braila Island) near a farmhouse, which is almost exclusively used as arable land. An explosion crater with a diameter of four meters was formed there.
Romania is planning a huge NATO base - Bundeswehr Eurofighter already on site
In mid-March, Romania announced that it wanted to build the largest NATO air base in Europe. The new base will accommodate 10,000 soldiers. The Ukrainian Kyiv Post drew a comparison to a small town. Nicolae Crețu, commander of a Romanian air base, explained to
Euronews Romania
the scale of the project: “Maintenance halls, fuel depots, ammunition, equipment, aeronautical material, simulators, catering facilities, accommodation; everything necessary to operate and perform the duties of a base of this size.”
Dorin Popescu, a Romanian military and political analyst, told the portal that the base was a step to strengthen the defense preparedness of the military alliance on the eastern flank. It is an important step given the war in Ukraine and Russian President Vladimir Putin's ongoing threats against the West. As early as November 2023, the Bundeswehr relocated four Eurofighter fighter jets to an air base in Constanta, Romania. They should also secure NATO airspace there.
(kb with dpa)