Igor FedykAccording to the information of the State Border Service of Ukraine, on the night of September 4, during a massive Russian air attack in the area of the Izmail port, two Russian Shahed drones fell and detonated on the territory of Romania. Later, as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Dmytro Kuleba, noted, Ukraine has photo evidence that Russian UAVs fell on Romanian territory.
Nevertheless, the Ministry of Defense of Romania “categorically denied” the information that Russian drones fell on the territory of the country. According to the Romanian military department, the means of attack used by the Russian Federation “never created a direct military threat to the national territory or territorial waters of Romania.” Later, the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Romania, Luminica Odobescu, confirmed the statement of her colleagues from the Ministry of Defense, noting that there were no “incidents” with Russian Shaheds on the territory of the country.
However, later the President of Romania, Klaus Iohannis, recognized the fact that the Russian UAV fell on the territory of the country and called it an “unacceptable situation” and a “serious violation” of sovereignty.
Comment: The initial denial by the Romanian side of the fact that Russian UAVs hit the Romanian territory is similar to Poland’s reaction to the incident with the fall of a Russian missile on its territory last November, and shows that the official Bucharest is following the generally accepted tacit approach in NATO to respond to similar incidents. This approach obviously means hushing up (if possible) or downplaying the importance of the incident and avoiding on the part of the country on whose territory it took place such reactions that would force the Alliance to take steps that would pose a threat of any forceful confrontation with Russia.
The subsequent recognition by the Romanian president of the fact of the fall of the Russian Shahed on the territory of his country and the sharp condemnation of the actions of Russia is a forced reaction of the official Bucharest in conditions when the fact of the incident, due to a sufficient amount of evidence, can no longer be denied or hushed up. Nevertheless, it is unlikely that after the words of President Iohannis, Romania will take any practical steps in response to Russia’s actions, especially, using force.
A change in the approach of Romania, as well as of other NATO member states bordering Ukraine, to responding to similar incidents (which, given the reluctance of Russia to abandon air attacks on the territory of Ukraine, will probably happen repeatedly) will occur only when there will be a change of approach to response to similar incidents at the level of the Alliance.
As for Ukraine, the incident with the Shaheds on the territory of Romania is another strong argument in negotiations with its Western partners in favor of accelerating the provision of additional modern air defense/anti-missile systems (in particular, aircraft) that will strengthen defense not only of its territory but also the neighboring states.