Video shows moment Russian drone hits apartment building in Romania | WATCH

Romania accused Russia of a “serious and irresponsible escalation” after a drone hit an apartment building in Romania early Friday (May 29), resulting in a fire and wounding two people. Videos of the incident, which happened in the city of Galati, surfaced on social media showing an explosion the moment the drone struck the building. As the drones were detected in Romanian airspace, two F-16 fighter jets were deployed. This marks the latest incident of drone incursions in a NATO-member country during Russian attacks on Ukraine.

“This incident represents a serious and irresponsible escalation on the part of the Russian Federation,” Romanian foreign ministry said in a statement, adding Bucharest had informed the NATO secretary general and “requested measures to accelerate the transfer of anti-drone capabilities to Romania”.

The ministry said that the incident happened on the night of May 28-29, as Russia resumed its offensive against Ukraine, striking civilian and infrastructure targets near the river border with Romania. It added that one of the drones entered its airspace and was tracked as far as the southern part of the city of Galati. The drone crashed on the roof of a residential building and exploded, triggering a fire.

“During the night of May 28-29, the Russian Federation resumed drone attacks on civilian and infrastructure targets in Ukraine, near the river border with Romania,” the Romanian defence ministry said in a statement.

“One of these drones entered Romanian airspace, was tracked by radar as far as the southern part of the city of Galati, and crashed onto the roof of an apartment building, with the impact triggering a fire,” it added.

This is not the first time a Russian drone breached Romania’s airspace during an attack on Ukraine. Last year in September, the country reported a similar incident. Like the response to the latest breach, two F-16 fighter jets scrambled after the drones were detected at that time as well. In the same month, Poland reported that it shot down a Russian drone in its airspace.

In recent months, several Russian drones have been spotted in NATO member states bordering the two warring countries, including Romania, Latvia, Estonia and Poland.