Romania scrambled jets after airspace violation: drone penetrated 14 km into the country.

On Thursday, Romania scrambled four fighter jets after an unidentified flying object, which was likely a drone, penetrated their national airspace to a distance of 14 km. This occurred in the air of southeastern Constanța County, reported the Ministry of Defense.

According to Reuters, Romania, which is an EU and NATO member and shares a 650 km border with Ukraine, has not faced the fall of parts of Russian drones on its territory for the first Time during the past one and a half years, as Russia attacks Ukraine's port infrastructure.

"The radar showed that Romania's border was crossed at 16:00 GMT (18:00 Central European Time - ed.)," the ministry stated. They also noted that the drone was initially spotted over the Black Sea as it headed towards Romania.

Romania immediately scrambled two F-16 fighters and two Spanish F-18s, which are conducting air patrol missions in the country until the end of the year. However, the pilots failed to locate the drone.

The residents of Constanța County were warned to seek shelter.

On Friday morning, the military will conduct a search for a possible crash site, the ministry reported.

In early September, the airspace of Romania and Latvia was violated by Russian drones, raising concerns about escalating tensions. Defense ministers of NATO's eastern flank countries jointly called for a reliable and coordinated alliance response to airspace violations by drones.

At the end of September, a Russian drone again invaded Romania's airspace.