Romania / 2026-05-02-ro-1
airspace incident: Chilia Veche area, northern Tulcea County (2026-05-02)
/ date of the event
What happened
During the night of 1 to 2 May 2026 MApN radars detected a group of twenty drones, which the ministry said belonged to the Russian Federation, heading for the Izmail area. At about 02:00 two F-16s on combat air-policing duty were scrambled from the 86th Air Base at Fetești. Ground radars detected one drone briefly entering Romanian airspace in the Chilia area before continuing towards Izmail. At 02:03 an RO-Alert went out for northern Tulcea County; the alert was lifted at 02:50. MApN noted numerous explosions on the Ukrainian bank of the Danube; nothing fell on Romanian territory.
The word "Russian" in this description comes from the source's account of where the object was made or what type it is. It is not a finding about who sent it or on whose orders. This record carries no assessment of responsibility: see the attribution band below.
Responsibility and limits of the evidence
not assessed
Nobody has yet assessed responsibility for this record. Not assessed is not the same as not established.
Impact
- killed
- not established
- injured
- not established
- damage
- not established
No casualties reported.
Sources
- Informație de presă nr. 121
Ministerul Apărării Naționale (MApN) / 2026-05-02 / primary source
supports: the record, that it happened, the date, the location
- Două aeronave F-16 au decolat de la Fetești după ce radarele au detectat pătrunderea unei drone în zona Chilia
AGERPRES / 2026-05-02 / secondary source
supports: the record, that it happened, the date
- O dronă rusească a pătruns în spaţiul aerian al României. MApN a ridicat avioane F-16 în aer
Digi24 / 2026-05-02 / secondary source
supports: the record, that it happened