By Thomas Grove
An armed Russian drone crashed into a residential building in NATO member Romania early Friday, drawing fierce condemnation from the alliance and stoking fears that Russia will attempt to spread violence beyond Ukraine.
The drone, which crossed the border into the southeastern city of Galati, prompted Romania to scramble jet fighters. The aircraft attempted to intercept it before the drone crashed into an apartment block, setting fire to the roof and injuring several people, said local authorities.
The incursion, among the first to cause civilian injuries on North Atlantic Treaty Organization territory, is the most recent escalation in the conflict. Suspected Russian drones approached Lithuania from Belarus last week, triggering air-raid alarms and forcing the government into a bunker. Russia has also threatened to bomb targets in Latvia.
"Russia's reckless behavior is a danger to us all," said NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte. "They continue to target civilians and civilian infrastructure across Ukraine. And last night showed yet again that the implications of their illegal war of aggression don't stop at the border."
Rutte held a phone call with Romanian President Nicusor Dan. Romania, which saw the number of U.S. troops based on its territory cut last year, convened an emergency session of its Supreme Council of National Defense.
"Full responsibility lies with the Russian Federation, whose behavior demonstrates total disregard for international law and for the safety of the citizens of a NATO member state," Dan said in a post on X.
Moscow didn't immediately comment on the incident. Russian state news agencies acknowledged that its ambassador to Romania had been called into the country's foreign ministry.
Romania hosts around 1,000 U.S. soldiers primarily on two bases, including the Deveselu military base that maintains the U.S. Navy's Aegis Ashore missile-defense system, part of NATO's ballistic-missile defense network.
The U.S. said last year that it would rotate the 2nd Infantry Brigade combat team of the 101st Airborne division out of Romania, in one of the Trump administration's first steps to reduce its military footprint in Europe. The Pentagon said at the time that the move didn't represent a lessening of its commitment to NATO.
The Russian drone incursions in Romania and the Baltic states, as well as a swarm of Russian drones that flew into Poland last year, underscore Europe's lack of air defenses to protect against the unmanned aerial vehicles that have become a fixture of both Russian and Ukrainian militaries.
With Russia's losses mounting in Ukraine and its economy weakening, European officials increasingly fear the Kremlin may lash out at Ukraine's allies.
Such incursions, they say, are meant to sow doubt in NATO countries about the military alliance's ability to protect its citizens. Meanwhile, Russia hopes that any escalation on NATO territory will make political leaders less likely to continue military support for Ukraine, analysts say.
"We stand with our NATO ally Romania and condemn this reckless incursion on its territory," said the U.S.'s ambassador to NATO, Matthew Whitaker.
Romanian Brig. Gen. Gheorghe Maxim said the military can't shoot over Ukrainian territory and had only had four minutes between the moment when the drone crossed into the country's airspace and when it crashed into the apartment block.
Kaja Kallas, the European Union's top diplomat, said the crash represented a "blatant and serious violation of Romania's sovereignty and European airspace."
Dan, the Romanian president, said the country had informed all of its NATO allies and EU partners. He also said Romania had requested additional antidrone capabilities from its allies and had alerted the United Nations Security Council.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said the incursion into Romanian airspace proved the threat that Russia poses to the Black Sea region and Europe as a whole, and echoed entreaties to allies to boost aid to Ukraine, in particular air defense. Ukraine is currently facing a shortage of air-defense munitions, which have gone instead to U.S. installations and allies in the Middle East.
Write to Thomas Grove at thomas.grove@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 29, 2026 06:58 ET (10:58 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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