Russian drone injures two in Romania as military admits no time to shoot down

At least two people were injured in Romania after a Russian drone struck a residential building. The Romanian military admitted its forces did not have enough time to shoot down the Russian drone.

The Russian Ministry of Defence previously reported that a drone attack targeting Ukraine was detected entering Romanian airspace, reaching as far south as Galati near the Romania-Ukraine border, between Thursday (28 May) evening and Friday (29 May) early morning. The drone crashed onto the roof of an apartment building, triggering a fire. According to Romania’s Ministry of Defence, two people were injured and are receiving hospital treatment.

A Romanian defence official, as reported by AFP on Friday (29 May 2026), stated: ‘There was no realistic opportunity to safely deal with it.’ ‘We had just four minutes – it was extremely short,’ said General Gheorghe Maxim of the Joint Forces Command during a press conference.

Romanian President Nicusor Dan, in a separate statement, said the decision not to shoot down the Russian drone was made ‘as the conditions required to destroy it without significantly endangering civilian safety were not met’. President Dan convened an emergency meeting of Romania’s Supreme Defence Council on Friday (29 May) local time following the drone incident. The meeting is expected to focus on ‘proportional’ measures against Russia.

President Dan described the drone incident as ‘unprecedented’ and the ‘most serious’ in Romania since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

Romania’s Ministry of Defence called the drone attack a ‘serious and irresponsible escalation’ by Russia. ‘Such incidents… endanger not only Romanian citizens’ safety but also NATO’s collective security,’ the ministry stated.

Romanian authorities summoned Russia’s ambassador to Bucharest on Friday (29 May) to protest the drone attack, described as a ‘very serious incident’. ‘We will formally communicate the consequences of Russia’s lack of responsibility on our diplomatic relations and next steps at the European level regarding sanctions packages,’ said Foreign Minister Oana-Silvia Toiu.

This is not the first time Russian drones have entered Romanian airspace, as the country’s air defence system has detected dozens of Russian drone incursions since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine. However, this is the first time a Russian drone attack has struck a residential building in Romania.