Romanian Leader Dan Calls on Kremlin to Hit Targets in Ukraine More Accurately
AI Analysis
A Russian drone strike injured two Romanian citizens in Galați, prompting calls from the Romanian President for Russia to improve targeting accuracy. Romanian military officials cite legal restrictions hindering their ability to effectively counter drones entering their airspace, despite recent legislative changes. The incident has led to Romania expelling a Russian consul and highlights the challenges of defending NATO's eastern flank from drone attacks.
Key Takeaways
- A Russian Shahed drone struck a residential building in Galați, Romania, injuring two people – the first instance of Russian drones causing injury to Romanian citizens.
- Romania faces legal constraints preventing proactive engagement of drones in its airspace, particularly near civilian areas, despite amendments to legislation in February 2025.
- Romanian Brig. Gen. Maxim stated a 4-minute window for engagement is insufficient given legal and practical limitations.
- Russia is employing large-scale drone and missile campaigns against Ukraine, launching over 100,000 drones and 2,400 missiles in 2025 alone.
- Ukraine’s air defense demonstrates a high interception rate (93% in one instance), but residual threats still pose a risk to neighboring countries.
Why It Matters
This incident underscores the escalating risk of cross-border incidents due to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and the limitations faced by NATO members in defending against drone threats. The legal and procedural hurdles faced by Romania highlight a broader need for clarity and flexibility in rules of engagement regarding drone defense, especially along NATO’s eastern flank. The event may prompt further investment in C-UAS capabilities and a re-evaluation of airspace defense protocols within NATO.
Romanian President Nicușor Dan said in an interview on Sunday that Russia must ensure its strikes on Ukraine do not endanger neighboring NATO territory after a drone entered Romanian airspace and hit a residential building.
Speaking to the BBC’s Weekend program, Dan confirmed that Russia was responsible for the Friday drone strike in the Danube port city of Galați, which injured two people, and called for greater precision in Russian attacks.
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“It became dangerous for Romanian cities. When the Russians are hitting, targeting towns that are on the other side of the Danube they have to be sure they do not provoke injuries for the Romanian citizens,” Dan said. “I hope that they will stop.”
Dan did not directly criticize Russia’s continued long-range strikes on Ukraine, which have targeted cities almost daily since late 2022.
He said the incident occurred after a Russian drone was damaged by Ukrainian air defenses during an attack on the Ukrainian port city of Reni and then changed course.
“There was a swarm of 43 drones that targeted the Reni port which is a west Danube port in the Odesa region,” Dan said.
According to Ukraine’s Air Force, Russia launched one ballistic missile and at least 232 drones overnight from Thursday to Friday, targeting central and western Ukraine. Ukrainian defenses said they intercepted or suppressed 217 drones, with several reaching targets in Odesa, Izmail and Reni, damaging civilian infrastructure.
The 93 percent interception rate recorded that night is consistent with Ukraine’s air defense performance, which over more than four years of war has developed into one of the world’s most effective systems, particularly against modern threats such as kamikaze and decoy drones.
The drone that struck a residential building in Galați marked the first incident in which a Russian unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) injured Romanian citizens. Dan said Russian drones have crossed Romanian airspace “about 20 to 30 times” since the start of the war.
Bucharest’s decision on Sunday to close the Russian consulate in the port city of Constanța, declare Consul General Andrei Kosilin persona non grata, and order him to leave the country within 72 hours is intended to push Moscow to avoid strikes on Ukraine that risk affecting Romanian territory, Dan said.
On Friday, the day the drone struck the apartment building in Galați, Romanian Brig. Gen. Gheorghe Maxim told a defense ministry briefing that Romanian forces tracked the incoming drone but were unable to intercept it due to the short time it spent in Romanian airspace and the proximity of civilian structures.
He added that Romanian forces are not permitted to fire toward Ukrainian territory, making it difficult, and in some cases impossible, to engage an approaching drone even after it enters Romanian airspace.
“The first restriction we have is legal: We cannot open fire in a way that affects the airspace of a neighboring country. Furthermore, engaging an aerial target requires a certain amount of time, which involves detection, identification and engagement. The four minutes we had at our disposal were an extremely short period of time,” Maxim said.
Romanian law, which allows the deployment of air defense systems on private property only with the owner’s explicit consent and restricts firing if it could endanger civilian property, also complicates efforts to defend NATO’s eastern flank against incoming aerial threats, he added.
Dan’s remarks, which appeared to frame Russia’s attacks as an issue of targeting accuracy rather than broader aggression, drew criticism from some Ukrainian commentators. Ihor Sushko, a Ukrainian volunteer and military blogger, reacted sharply, arguing the problem lies in Russia’s invasion itself rather than where its strikes land.
“Romanian President Nicușor Dan, the f**king idiot: Asked Russia to improve their drone targeting so they can more precisely murder Ukrainians north of the Danube river to ensure Romanians don’t suffer,” Sushko said in part.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a video statement that he spoke with Dan by phone after the strike on Galați, wished those injured a speedy recovery, and praised Romania’s “principled, swift, and strong” response.
At the same briefing, Romanian defense ministry spokesperson Cristian Popovici said Bucharest “cannot risk creating more threats than it can prevent,” adding that the military operates under strict legal constraints.
The comments by Maxim and Popovici echo a Romanian legal wrangle lasting more than two years, during which the Romanian military refused, on almost any terms, to fire or even to attempt to divert Russian drones violating Romanian airspace.
Officials previously said Romanian law prohibited engaging even military aircraft violating its airspace unless clear hostile intent had been established and attempts had been made to contact the pilot. This effectively made it illegal to engage unmanned drones, even those carrying warheads.
In February 2025, Romania amended its legislation to permit air defense forces to engage drones entering national airspace and posing a threat. However, restrictions remain on deploying systems on private property and using force near civilian areas.
Russia typically launches 100-200 kamikaze drones accompanied by 1-3 ballistic missiles at Ukraine nightly. Every 7-10 days, a major strike from bombers, warships and ground systems is launched, sending 500-1,000 drones and 40-80 missiles of all types at targets inside Ukraine.
In 2025 alone, Russia launched more than 100,000 drones and 2,400 missiles, according to official data.
In May 2026, Russian strikes killed at least 8 civilians and injured more than 100 in Ukraine, according to civil defense reports. In 2025, UN figures show that Russian aerial attacks killed at least 2,514 civilians and injured 12,142.
Stefan Korshak is the Kyiv Post Senior Defense Correspondent. He is from Houston Texas, is a Yalie and since the mid-1990s has worked as correspondent/photographer for newswire, newspapers, television and radio. He has reported from five wars but most enjoys doing articles on wildlife and nature. You can read his weekly blog on the Russo-Ukraine War on Facebook, Substack and Medium. His new book on the 2022 Siege of Mariupol is available on Amazon UK and Amazon US.