NATO Supreme Commander Coordinates with Romania After Russian Drone Strikes Apartment Building in Galați
The drone incursion occurred amid renewed Russian attacks on Ukrainian civilian and infrastructure targets near the river border.
ROMANIA — NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Europe spoke by phone today with General Gheorghiță VLAD, the Romanian Chief of Defense, after a Russian drone crossed into Romanian airspace overnight and struck an apartment building in the southern area of Galați.
The call addressed the incident and the Romanian response already in progress. The drone incursion occurred amid renewed Russian attacks on Ukrainian civilian and infrastructure targets near the river border.
Romanian radars tracked the drone to Galați, where it crashed onto the roof of an apartment block and ignited a fire. Two F-16s from the 86th Air Base in Fetești launched at 1:19 a.m. under NATO Eastern Sentry authorities, supported by an IAR 330 SOCAT helicopter.
Pilots had authorization to engage targets for the duration of the alert. Teams from the General Inspectorate for Emergency Situations, Ministry of Internal Affairs, Romanian Intelligence Service, and Romanian Police are working at the site. RO-Alert messages were issued for Tulcea, Galați, and Brăila counties.
Incident Summary
The strike took place as Russian drone operations resumed against targets in Ukraine close to the Romanian border. Romanian Ministry of National Defense detection systems identified the incoming drone and triggered the standard air defense response.
The F-16s and supporting helicopter were airborne within minutes, and public warning measures were activated without delay.
Assessment: The rapid progression from radar contact to fighter launch confirms that Romanian air defense protocols functioned as planned. Framing the scramble under NATO’s Eastern Sentry mission from the outset shows the incident was handled as an alliance-level event. The decision to send public alerts to three counties prioritized civilian protection while the situation remained fluid.
