‘Peaceful sleep is over’: Russia warns EU after drone attack in Romania; NATO promises to defend the territory of the alliance | Today’s news
Russia launched a drone attack on Romania, a country in Europe, on Friday, prompting a sharp response from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), which has pledged to defend the alliance’s territory.
After a drone attack on an apartment in Romania, the Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, Dmitry Medvedev, warned European leaders that drones will continue to wander into their countries and prevent their residents from sleeping peacefully.
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“Citizens of EU countries, you should realize that your authorities have unilaterally entered the war with Russia. So be vigilant and don’t let anything surprise you. Peaceful sleep is over. But you know who to ask why,” he wrote on X.
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Drone attack in Romania
A drone struck a residential building in the center of Galati, Romania, near the border with Ukraine, sparking a fire and sending a 14-year-old boy and a 53-year-old woman to hospital with injuries, officials said. About 70 people were evacuated as the fire was extinguished, the BBC reported.
In addition to the woman and her child, who were taken to hospital with minor injuries, two people were treated at the scene for panic attacks and 70 were evacuated from the apartment building, local authorities said.
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“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 Defense Ministry said, as quoted by AFP.
“One of these drones entered Romanian airspace, was tracked by radar as far as the southern part of the city of Galati, and hit the roof of an apartment building, causing a fire on impact,” it said.
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Cited by the BBC, Romania’s Office of Emergency Situations said the drone’s entire payload exploded and caused a fire on the 10th floor of a residential building.
Romania has said Russian drones have violated its airspace 28 times since Moscow began attacking Ukrainian ports across the Danube River following its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
However, the accident marked the first hit to a residential building in the country.
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Russian news agency TASS quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying that President Vladimir Putin had been informed of the incident.
Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said all allegations regarding Russian drones flying in Europe are unfounded, RIA reported.
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NATO criticizes Russia’s “reckless behavior”
“Russia’s reckless behavior is a danger to all of us,” NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said on the X program after speaking by phone with Romanian President Nicusor Dan, whose country is a member of both NATO and the European Union.
“I have confirmed that NATO is ready to defend every centimeter of allied territory,” he said, without mentioning the activation of NATO’s mutual defense clause.
“We will continue to strengthen our readiness to deter and defend against any threat, including drones,” Rutte said.
Romania has asked NATO allies to deploy more anti-drone capabilities to Romania, with official sources saying Bucharest needs low-altitude radars and interceptor drones. A NATO spokesman said on Friday that “possible additional defensive measures are being considered”.
What did the EU and its allies say?
EU chief Ursula von der Leyen said Russia’s “aggressive war” had “crossed another line” and pledged to increase deterrence on the EU’s eastern border.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said the incident showed Russia’s “willingness to escalate”, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot called it an “irresponsible act” and Britain’s Keir Starmer condemned the “serious violation of NATO airspace”.
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Meanwhile, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga said in a post on X that the drone crash “proved once again that Russian aggression poses a real threat to the Black Sea region and all of Europe,” while President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on his European allies to increase sanctions against Russia.
“The recent incursion of a Russian drone into Romanian airspace and its explosion… proved once again that Russian aggression poses a real threat to the Black Sea region and all of Europe,” Sybiga said in a post on X.
Romania expels Russian consul general after drone crash: President
Romania’s president said on Friday that the NATO member would expel Russia’s consul general in the Black Sea city of Constanta and close the mission after a drone crashed into a residential building.
“Russia bears full responsibility for this incident… In light of this situation, the Consul General of the Russian Federation in Constanta has been declared persona non grata and the Consulate General of the Russian Federation in Constanta will be closed,” President Nicusor Dan said in a video statement.
In response, Russia is preparing a response to Romania’s move to expel a Russian diplomat over a drone crash in the Romanian city of Galati, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Friday.
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Russia promises a quick response to the closure of the Romanian consulate
Russia will react quickly to Romania’s decision to close the Russian consulate in Constanta, state news agency TASS reported, citing Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova.
Romanian President Nicusor Dan said earlier on Friday that the Russian consul in the southeastern city of Constanta would be fired and the consulate closed after a Russian drone fell on the roof of an apartment building and caused an explosion.
Drone crash in Romania shows Russia threatens ‘all of Europe’: Ukraine FM
