Ukraine says Russian drones hit NATO member Romania

Kyiv:

Kiev said on Monday that Iranian-made Russian drones fell and exploded on Romanian territory in a nighttime strike on the Ukrainian port of Izmail, a claim denied by NATO member Romania.

“According to the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine, Russian ‘Shaheds’ fell and exploded on Romanian territory during the night,” Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko said. social networks.

He said the incident happened during a massive Russian attack near Izmail, located on the Danube river opposite Romania.

The spokesperson shared an image of what appeared to be a glowing cloud of smoke near a body of water.

AFP could not immediately verify the image.

A spokesman for the State Border Guard Service told AFP that Nikolenko’s account was “reliable” and that two detonations had been observed.

“We recorded two detonations on Romanian territory, near the port of Izmail, during the Russian attack overnight,” Andriy Demchenko said.

Following its withdrawal in July from an agreement allowing the export of Ukrainian grain via the Black Sea, Moscow shelled the ports of southern Ukraine, including Izmail.

Romania has categorically denied that Russian drones fell on its soil during the strike.

“At no time did the means of attack used by the Russian Federation constitute a direct military threat to the national territory or the territorial waters of Romania,” the Defense Ministry said.

While most of the fighting during the Russian invasion took place within Ukrainian borders, Kyiv has sometimes claimed that the conflict has spread to European countries, claims its NATO allies have largely dismissed.

In March 2022, a Soviet-made Tupolev drone crashed into the Croatian capital Zagreb, causing no injuries, and in November a missile landed in a Polish village near the Ukrainian border, killing two people.

Ukraine has suggested that Russia was behind both incidents, but in both cases its Western allies have dismissed that, suggesting instead that they were of Ukrainian descent and fell there accidentally.

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