Paris Soir - Ukrainian sea drone explodes in Romanian port, no casualties

The sea drone was "of the type used in the war in Ukraine" and not part of the Romanian military's inventory, Bucharest's defence ministry said in a statement, adding the device "self-destructed around 10:30 am (0730 GMT) without causing any casualties".

Ukraine confirmed the device was one of its naval drones, saying it had been knocked off course by Russian electronic interference.

"While carrying out missions in the Black Sea operational area, one of the Ukrainian Navy's unmanned surface vessels came under the influence of the enemy's electronic warfare systems, lost control, and ended up near the coast of Romania," Ukraine's navy said.

Ukrainian foreign ministry spokesman Georgii Tykhyi said Kyiv "informed the Romanian side in a timely manner of a naval drone that it had lost control because of Russian jamming". The official said effective coordination had ensured the taking of "necessary measures to prevent harm to civilians".

Tykhyi added: "This incident shows once again that Russia's ongoing full-scale aggression poses a threat not only to Ukraine, but to the entire region."

"These are Ukrainian unmanned maritime vehicles," the Russian embassy in Bucharest said earlier on Telegram.

"Attempts to link these drones, directly or indirectly, to Russia and to attribute responsibility for the incident to Russia are completely unfounded," the embassy added.

Romanian officials said that Ukraine informed them about losing control of four drones in total.

"In addition to the drone that self-destructed in the Port of Constanta, a second one self-detonated, under the supervision of the Coast Guard, off the coast of the Port of Constanta, and two other drones exploded approximately 145 km east of Constanta," President Nicusor Dan wrote on X.

The incident came a week after a Russian aerial drone injured two people when it crashed onto an apartment building in Galati, near Romania's border with Ukraine.

Romania, a European Union and NATO member, has reported dozens of airspace breaches since the start of the war in Ukraine in 2022, blaming Russia.

It has asked the Atlantic alliance to bolster air defences.

President Dan said on X that Friday's "significant security incident" represents "the direct consequences of the war of aggression launched by Russia against Ukraine", which requires "a high level of vigilance".

The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, also said the incident was a direct consequence or Russia's war in Ukraine.

"It is increasingly becoming a direct threat to countries on our Eastern border," she wrote on X.

- NATO monitoring -

NATO said it was monitoring events after Romania informed it of the incident.

"We continue to closely coordinate with the Romanian authorities," a NATO official said.

Romanian authorities evacuated more than 1,000 people from the coastal area and sent two helicopters to monitor for any other possible devices.

Inhabitants and tourists received phone alerts to avoid the area within a one-kilometre (0.6-mile) radius.

"Our measures at this time are purely preventive," said emergency management chief Raed Arafat.

"What's important is that there was information that this drone was going to explode," so everyone was safe, President Dan told reporters in Montenegro, where he was attending an EU summit with Balkan leaders.

President Dan said at the weekend that Bucharest had confirmed the May 29 drone strike in Galati, near the Ukrainian border, was a Geran-2 "of Russian origin", which injured a mother and her adolescent son.

Earlier this week, a sea drone was found on a beach on Romania's Black Sea coast.

A.Dupont--PS