The case of the Russian drones entering Romania: it is difficult to press the trigger, but not to breathe that “the drone left for Ukraine” is not a solution
The news about the Russian drone that was walking on Saturday through the Romanian airspace is in the entire international press. The reason is obvious: the incident comes three days after 19 other unmanned flights of Russia entered the Polish airspace. Poland reached: he raised the ground planes that shot down some of the drones. Romania did not. And from here there are some question marks.
Flying cars of civilian civilians
To know from the beginning what we are talking about, the drone that entered the Romanian airspace, in the Danube Delta, near Chilia Veche, is a Geran type, as the Ministry of National Defense informed us.
Geran Drones They are of Iranian manufacture (Shahed-136), Kamikaze type, that is, they are designed to self-destruct at the impact with a target. Since the beginning of the Ukraine war, Russia has used them a lot to attack the civil infrastructure in this country: ports, ships, energy installations and so on.
The Romanians from the localities on the Chilia arm, in the Danube Delta, are familiar with these flight devices, could hold conferences on this topic. They saw them in the action, while throwing installations, ships and trucks from Ukrainian ports, Reni or Kilia. Or, closer to their homes, found their crashed debris on the ground, after they were shot down by the Ukrainian anti-aircraft. There are many images filmed with the explosions produced by Geran. I'm frightening.
“The drone left for Ukraine”
However, as the Minister of Defense, Ionuț Mosteanu, the Romanian pilots from the two F16 planes raised on Saturday from the ground, decided not to shoot.
“The drone was not shot down. The radars intercepted and saw it coming to our airspace. The planes rose and saw it. They were very close to dropping it, the drone flying very low, at one point he left for Ukraine,” said Ionuț Mosteanu.
“The drone orbit for about 50 minutes, from NE from Chilia Veche to SV of Izmail, and left the national air space near Pardina, heading to Ukraine. (…) The pilots received the authorization to break down the target, but in times they had direct contact, they evaluated the collateral risks, and they did not open the ministry.
What collateral risks is it about? That the bullets drawn by the F-16 aircraft do not reach the ground, given that the drone flew at low altitude.
There is a law that allows drone down
Despite speculation that have been made these days, there is Law 73 of 2025 which allows the Romanian army to break down drones. So it seems that the law was not about. But, simply, about a decision taken at the moment, maybe by pilots, as Moșteanu says, or maybe even the Minister of Defense or the president of the country, not to press the trigger.
It was a difficult, indisputable decision. It would have been a premiere, after decades of peace, for a Romanian pilot to send a projectile in a Russian flight apparatus, either he and unmanned.
The decision not to shoot was relieved that “the drone left for Ukraine.” What luck.
We do not know what happened to her but, based on previous experiences, we can speculate that she could attack civil infrastructure in the Ukrainian ports. Maybe he would have killed someone. We don't know now, we just speculate. The communication of our officials stops at this sentence meant to reassure us: “The drone has left for Ukraine.”
What if he had killed a Romanian ethnic from Ukraine?
The press in the neighboring country ironizes us that we did not bring it down, and the president of this country, Volodimir Zelenski warns us that it would be wrong to assume that “it was a mistake of the Russians”, because “the Russian army knows exactly where its drones are heading and how long they can operate in the air.” “Their routes are always calculated,” said the leader from Kyiv.
Of course, you could say, the Ukrainians have every interest in inflame the spirits because they want to attract NATO in a conflict. Anything is possible.
“Poland is preparing for the worst scenarios,” says a Polish security analyst interviewed by Hotnews. We have no arguments to contradict it, but I do not think we have to be more scared than is the case.
However, this relief of the Minister of Defense who told us that the drone was not shot down because he left alone to make somewhere else, raises some question marks.
That is, we, Romanians, should be relieved that the explosive flying machine will go to kill Ukrainians, not Romanians? But if it were about the ethnic Romanians living in Bugeac (southern Bessarabia), would we not care what happened to the drone? Otherwise, through political statements, we are very sensitive when it comes to Romanians in Ukraine. But not when we could do something concrete to save their lives.
I am not a fan of disproportionate measures against actions that experienced analysts call “Russia challenges”. On the other hand, I have the right to wonder what, in fact, Romania's strategy regarding Russian drones.
Apart from the fact that we pray “God help, to detonate on the territory of Ukraine, not on Romania”, do we do anything else? I have the right to wonder only if I think how hard a law was adopted that allows the Romanian army to break down the drones entering the Romanian air space.
And if from now on, such incidents will be more and more frequent, because Russia will want to see how much NATO patience goes, what do we do then? I doubt it is enough just to call Russia's ambassador to ask.
I know it's hard to press the trigger. But, at one point, maybe this is the only solution.
The journalist Gabriel Bejan sends the newsletter “Reason, back!”, A clear and balanced synthesis of the most important events in political, economic and international actuality. If you are interested in the context behind the news, you can subscribe here:
