Ukraine claims that Russia’s Iranian-made “Shahed” drones landed on Romanian territory during a series of attacks on a nearby Ukrainian city, across the Danube River on the night of September 4, 2023.
Ukrainian grain silos in the city ports of Izmail and Reni, regularly targeted by Russian air strikes, are located 200 meters from the central line of the Danube River, which marks Ukraine’s border with NATO member Romania, and 400 meters away from the Romanian riverbank.
A statement from the Romanian Defense Ministry “firmly denied” that drones had landed on Romania’s soil during Russia’s overnight attacks on Odesa Oblast. But Ukraine authorities stated they had “photo evidence.”
“I think that in this case in particular, [the Romanian officials] are now studying all aspects of what happened,” Dmytro Kuleba, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, was quoted as saying in an article published by Ukrinform. “It is pointless to deny that something fell there. And we authoritatively state, with evidence, that it was struck by Shahed drones.”
“Our partners have tendencies to try not to escalate the interpretation of certain events in order not to be drawn into a direct conflict,” he added.
Given NATO’s mutual defense guarantee, the Danube River is all that separates a strike on Ukraine from a strike on the entire alliance.
According to Ukraine, during the recent overnight attacks Russian forces launched 32 drones over the oblasts of Odesa and Dnipropetrovsk.
Daniela Tanase, whose house in the Romanian village overlooks Ukraine’s port across the Danube, told Reuters that while she was not aware of explosions on the Romanian bank, she could not say for certain.
“We heard the drones, the booms, and the air defense systems across the river,” Tanase was quoted as saying in the article. “We saw a light in the distance from our window, it was raining last night.”
The US State Department stated it was aware of the reports but referred questions to the Romanian authorities.