Russian drone hits Romanian apartment, injures two

A Russian drone crashed into a residential building in eastern Romania early Friday, injuring two people and marking the first time such an incursion has caused a direct impact on a structure inside the NATO member state. The incident occurred in the city of Galati, located near the border with Ukraine.

According to Romania’s defense ministry, the drone entered Romanian airspace overnight during a wave of Russian attacks on targets in Ukraine near the shared river border. The ministry stated the drone was tracked by radar before crashing onto the roof of a ten-story apartment building, triggering an explosion and a fire. The country’s emergency services said the drone’s entire explosive payload detonated.

Two people in the affected apartment sustained minor injuries and received medical treatment at the scene. Authorities evacuated approximately 70 residents from the building as firefighters worked to extinguish the blaze, which has since been put out. In response to the detected incursion, the Romanian defense ministry scrambled two F-16 fighter jets and a military helicopter, authorizing the pilots to shoot down any drones.

The strike near the Danube River coincided with...