NATO member Romania said Friday that a Russian drone slammed into the roof of a 10-story apartment block in the city of Galati overnight, sparking an explosion and injuring two people—marking the first time in the Ukraine war that a drone has caused casualties in the country. About 70 residents were evacuated; a woman and her child were hospitalized with minor injuries, and others were treated for panic attacks, Reuters reports. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said he told Romanian President Nicusor Dan that NATO "stands ready to defend every inch of allied territory," reports the BBC.
Russia's "reckless behavior" is "a danger to us all," Rutter said. He said Russia "continues to target civilians and civilian infrastructure across Ukraine," and the Romanian incident "showed yet again that the implications of their illegal war of aggression don't stop at the border." European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen also condemned the incident, saying Russia "crossed yet another line." "A Russian drone incursion struck a densely populated area in Romania, injuring civilians," she said. "On EU territory."
Romania's defense ministry said the drone's payload detonated on impact and that two F-16s and a military helicopter were scrambled with orders to shoot down any drones entering Romanian airspace. Galati is a major port on the river Danube, which forms the border with Ukraine. Bucharest, which has logged 28 Russian drone incursions since Moscow began targeting Ukrainian Danube ports, called the incident a "serious violation of international law" and summoned Russia's ambassador. "We will have proportional measures in relation to the Russian Federation," Dan said, per the AP. "There is no ambiguity about the author and the cause of this assault."
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