Drone crashes in Romania after entering airspace near Ukrainian border

A drone entered Romanian airspace early Thursday and crashed in an unpopulated area of Tulcea County, Romania's Defense Ministry said.

The ministry said in a statement that its radar system detected a group of aerial targets near the Ukrainian border at 2.23 a.m. local time (2323GMT Wednesday).

Two Spanish Air and Space Force F-18 fighter jets were scrambled to monitor the situation, while a Romanian Air Force IAR-330 SOCAT helicopter conducted an aerial reconnaissance mission.

At 3:21 a.m. (0021GMT), a drone entered Romanian airspace about 13 kilometers (8 miles) east of Galati.

Three minutes later, the Romanian helicopter crew reported that the drone had crashed approximately 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) northeast of Grindu village in Tulcea County in an uninhabited area.

The impact triggered a fire, which extinguished itself, according to the ministry. No casualties or material damage were reported.

A military team was sent to the crash site to secure the area and examine the wreckage.

The incident occurred near Romania's border with Ukraine amid ongoing Russian military activity in neighboring Ukraine.