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Drone alert issued, searches performed amid possible Romanian airspace breach during attack on Ukraine
As groups of drones headed towards Ukraine were detected near the border with Romania on Friday night, the National Defense Ministry (MApN) alerted the Air Police Service and notified the General Emergency Management Inspectorate to warn the population of the eastern Tulcea and Galati counties.
"On the night of September 29 to 30, the Russian forces carried out a new series of attacks on Ukrainian targets. Following the detection of groups of drones headed towards the Ukrainian territory, near the border with Romania, the National Defense Ministry alerted the Air Police Service forces and notified at 22:38 p.m. the General Emergency Management Inspectorate for it to issue an alert to the population of the Tulcea and Galati counties," the Ministry said in a statement on Saturday.
According to the cited source, the Romanian Army's radar surveillance system detected a potential breach of the national airspace, with a signal picked up on the direction of Galati city.
Consequently, General Emergency Inspectorate, Police and Border Police forces were deployed to Galati and its surroundings, where the respective radar signal was registered. The said response crews performed searches on the outskirts of Galati, as a local called the 112 emergency number on Friday night to announce having heard a loud bang in the area of the city's Cantemir neighborhood.
"Up until now, no aerial objects fallen on the national territory have been identified. Searches will continue during the day," the National Defense Ministry said.
Galati city residents received Ro-Alert warnings announcing the possible fall of dangerous aerial objects and asking the population to take shelter.
The cease of the alert measures was ordered in all the affected areas at 1:41 in the morning.
The National Defense Ministry said that it is in permanent contact with allied structures, sending them real time information about the situations generated by these attacks, and that it will be back with details, depending on developments.
Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu declared on Saturday that searches conducted by the authorities in the area of the Danube city of Galati following an airspace breach alert launched on Friday evening found nothing to prove a potential drone crash incident. He assured that "we have no problems" and that Russia doesn't zero in on Romania, whatsoever.
In the aftermath of a Ro-Alert civil warning issued on Friday night in the counties of Galati and Tulcea, of the risk of dangerous objects falling from the sky, Ciolacu was asked at a press conference in the western city of Timisoara what the current situation is and if the authorities continue searching the area for possible drone debris.
"I discussed with the Defense minister at 2:00 in the morning, then again at 6:00 and at 8:00. (...) Things were not confirmed, but this is the normal way the system works everywhere. There were floods in New York, you saw that a civil warning was issued there too. I am firmly convinced that just as today, the Defense Ministry will transparently inform the media. We have no problems, Russia plans no attack on Romania whatsoever, at this moment. And I don't think that Russia can afford to get into a conflict with Romania, first of all due to the fact that we are NATO and EU members," Marcel Ciolacu said.