Two Romanian F-16s shot down two drones over Romania's territorial waters in the Black Sea on Saturday evening, the defence ministry said, both within minutes of each other off the port of Sulina at the mouth of the Danube.
The ministry described them as "jet-powered attack drones from the Geran family." Geran is the name Russia gives its versions of the Iranian-designed Shahed. The ministry has not formally said where they came from.
Two drones, six minutes
Radar picked up "a number of aerial targets" over the Black Sea, the ministry said. Two F-16s from the 86th Air Base at Borcea, already in the air on air policing missions, were sent after them.
According to Defence Minister Radu Miruță:
- The first drone entered Romanian airspace at about 17:59 local time and was shot down "within two minutes," 25 km southeast of Sulina.
- The second was shot down at 18:05, 20 km east of Sulina.
Both were over the sea. The ministry has not said whether debris has been recovered.
A week of attacks on ships
The shootdowns follow a spate of drone strikes on shipping off Romania's coast.
Days earlier, drones hit two chemical tankers anchored near the Sulina Canal, the channel that carries Ukrainian exports from the Danube to the sea. Seven crew members are still missing. A NATO military source told Reuters the tankers were hit by Russian drones.
In the past ten days, at least five other cargo ships have been hit near Romania and Bulgaria, most of them outside NATO waters. Twenty-three sailors are reported dead or missing.
Next door, Moldova says five drones identified as Russian fell on its territory in just over 17 hours on Thursday and Friday, and another crashed in the north on Saturday.
Romania only started shooting recently
Romania shares a 614-km border with Ukraine, much of it along the Danube, and has reported Russian drone incursions since 2022. For most of that time it tracked them without firing.
That changed in late July, when a Romanian pilot shot down a drone for the first time, followed by two more within days. President Nicușor Dan called the breaches "inadmissible and intolerable."
What Bucharest says
"The Black Sea will be safe again," Foreign Minister Oana Țoiu wrote on X. She said NATO allies would discuss Black Sea "defence and deterrence" at an upcoming meeting.
NATO has not announced new measures, and Russia has not commented.
What to watch
Attribution. Whether Romania formally names Russia, as the NATO source did over the tankers.
NATO's response. Whether allies send more air or naval forces to the Black Sea after the meeting Țoiu described.
Shipping. Whether insurers and shipowners start avoiding the Sulina route, one of Ukraine's main export lifelines.
Published Sunday, October 18, 2026. Times are local (EEST); the ministry gave the entry times as 14:59 and 15:01 GMT. Details are from Romania's defence ministry and Defence Minister Radu Miruță as reported by Reuters and Euronews. The origin of the drones has not been officially confirmed.
