A Russian drone involved in an overnight attack on Ukraine has hit a residential building in Nato member Romania, injuring two people, prompting swift condemnation and the threat of repercussions.
Romania summoned Russia’s ambassador on Friday, denouncing the “irresponsible escalation” by Moscow, in comments that were quickly echoed by other senior European officials.
“We will officially communicate the consequences that this lack of responsibility on the part of the Russian Federation will have for the diplomatic relations between our countries, as well as the next steps at the European level regarding sanctions packages,” the foreign minister, Oana Țoiu, wrote on X.
Romania’s foreign ministry said it had asked Nato to accelerate the transfer of anti-drone capabilities, describing the incident as a “grave and irresponsible escalation” and a “serious breach of international law”.
The strike in Romania is the latest example of the war in Ukraine spilling beyond the country’s borders, amid growing concern over Russia’s wider campaign of hybrid warfare across Europe.
It also came as Russia threatened to intensify its systematic strikes against Ukraine.
Romania’s president, Nicușor Dan, said his country would not accept the war of aggression waged by Russia against Ukraine being transferred to its citizens. He said he had instructed the foreign ministry to prepare a package of measures regarding Romania’s relationship with Moscow, “proportionate to this very serious situation”.
France’s foreign minister also denounced the incident. “I want to condemn this irresponsible act by Russia,” Jean-Noël Barrot told the broadcaster France Inter, adding that the drone had struck “a country of the European Union and a Nato country.”
Romania’s defence ministry said the drone was tracked by radar in Romanian airspace before crashing into the roof of a residential building in Galați on Friday. The impact sparked a fire, injured two people and forced the evacuation of several residents.
Police and emergency services responded at the scene. Galați is on the Danube River, east of the borders with Moldova and Ukraine.
The Romanian military scrambled two F-16 fighter jets and a helicopter authorised to engage targets, while emergency alerts were issued to residents in the affected areas.
The governent reiterated that it had asked Nato to speed up the delivery of anti-drone systems to Romania.
A Nato spokesperson condemned “Russia’s recklessness” and said the alliance would strengthen its defences against all threats, including drones.
The UN secretary general told the UN security council on Thursday that in the first four months of this year, more civilians have been killed in Ukraine than in the same period in 2025 – or 2024 or 2023.
António Guterres also called for greater diplomacy, immediate de-escalation and “a full and unconditional ceasefire”, warning of “unknown and unintended consequences” from the escalation and intensification of attacks.
Russia has been using long-range ballistic missiles and drones to damage Ukraine’s power grid and hammer cities, and Ukraine has been bracing for further heavy bombardments.
The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said on Thursday that he was pressing the US to provide additional Patriot air defence missiles to counter Russian ballistic missile attacks.
Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report
