airspace incident: Between Galați and the border region, having transited Moldovan airspace (2026-08-16)

What happened

A Russian Geran-2 drone violated Moldovan airspace from the Ukrainian side: at 04:31 it was recorded over the village of Etulia in Gagauzia, at 04:44 Romanian systems detected a violation about 24 km north of Galați, and at 04:49 the drone left Moldova. Two Spanish F-18s from the 57th Air Base at Mihail Kogălniceanu were scrambled as a precaution, and at 05:01 one of them shot the drone down; debris fell near the communes of Băleni and Cudalbi. The same day an unarmed drone was found 1.5 km from Constanța.

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

Sources

1. Naruszenia przestrzeni powietrznej nieobjętej działaniami wojennymi podczas wojny rosyjsko-ukraińskiej

   pl.wikipedia.org / secondary source

   supports: the record

2. Violations of non-combatant airspace during the Russo-Ukrainian war (2022-present)

   en.wikipedia.org / secondary source

   supports: the record