ISW: Russia Is Attacking NATO With Its Drones For A Reason

The second Alliance country in four days.

The Russian drone spotted in Romania's skies on the night of September 13 was the second instance of Russian intrusion into the airspace of NATO countries within four days, concludes the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), analyzing the case.

After Russian drones invaded Polish airspace on the night of Sept. 10, Romanian Defense Minister Ionut Mosşteanu said on Sept. 13 that Romanian troops were taking two F-16 fighter jets into the air from the 86th airbase near Fetesti after Romanian radars detected a Russian drone in Romanian airspace at 6:23 p.m. local time. Mosteanu said Romania faces "provocations from Russia almost every week." Romanian Foreign Minister Oana-Silvia Tsoiu called Russia's actions "unacceptable and reckless." She said the drone was controlled by the Romanian air force: it was escorted by two F-16 fighter jets until it left Romanian airspace. It did not cause damage, there were no casualties, Tsoiu stressed.

In addition, the Romanian Defense Ministry on September 14 provided U.S. television channel ABC News with data according to which Russian drones have already violated Romanian airspace 11 times since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, including the September 13 incident. In addition, according to the Romanian Defense Ministry, that Russian drones have conducted about 50 drone strikes near the Ukrainian-Romanian border since February 2022. In 30 of these cases, drone debris fell on Romanian territory.

The ISW continues to assess that the incidents of drone incursions into Poland and Romania were deliberate. It also recalled the words of Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky, who noted that the flight trajectories of Russian drones are "always calculated" and that the drone did not accidentally hit Romanian airspace due to error or the actions of low-level commanders.

You can support the website Charter97.org

MULTI-CURRENCY ACCOUNT FOR ASSISTANCE:

Bank's name: Bank Millennium S.A.
Address: ul. Stanislawa Zaryna, 2A, 02-593, Warszawa
IBAN: PL97116022020000000216711123
SWIFT: BIGBPLPW
Name of the account holder: Fundacja “KARTA ‘97”
Purpose/title of payment: Donation for statuary aims

You can contact us by the e-mail charter97@gmail.com