MOSCOW — Russian President Vladimir Putin has said it is too early to determine whether a drone that crashed into an apartment block in Romania was Russian, suggesting it could have been Ukrainian, even as NATO members accused Moscow of allowing its war on Ukraine to spill across alliance borders.
The drone struck a residential building in Galați, eastern Romania, near the Ukrainian border, during a wave of Russian attacks on Ukrainian targets. Romanian authorities said the unmanned aircraft entered Romanian airspace before crashing into the building and injuring two people. The incident triggered fresh concern inside NATO because Romania is a member of the alliance.
Putin, speaking during a visit to Kazakhstan, rejected immediate blame on Russia and said investigators should first establish the drone’s origin. He argued that drones can be diverted or misidentified during wartime and suggested the aircraft could have come from Ukraine.
Romania’s Defence Ministry, however, said the drone entered its airspace during a Russian attack on Ukraine. Reports identified the aircraft as a Geran-2, Russia’s version of the Iranian-designed Shahed drone frequently used in long-range strikes against Ukrainian cities and infrastructure.
Bucharest summoned Russia’s ambassador and condemned the incident as a serious escalation. Romania also closed Russia’s consulate in Constanța and informed NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, who expressed solidarity with the Romanian government. Romanian officials have requested additional NATO support, including stronger anti-drone capabilities, though it was not immediately clear whether Bucharest would invoke Article 4 of the NATO treaty, which allows members to request consultations when their security is threatened.
The crash has intensified concern across NATO’s eastern flank, where several countries have reported drone incursions or airspace alerts since Russia expanded its use of drones against Ukraine. Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia have also raised alarm over the risk that Russian attacks or electronic warfare could send drones into alliance territory.
Moscow has denied deliberately targeting NATO territory and has repeatedly accused Ukraine of staging or exploiting such incidents to draw Western states deeper into the war. Kyiv and its allies reject that claim, saying Russia’s mass drone attacks are creating direct danger for neighbouring countries.
The Romanian incident caused no deaths, but it marks one of the most serious cross-border drone episodes involving a NATO member since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. For alliance officials, the immediate priority is determining exactly how the drone crossed into Romania and preventing similar incidents from escalating into a wider confrontation.
