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Allies Move to Bolster Air Defences After Russian-Made Drone Hits Romanian Apartment Block

NATO partners are preparing short-term radar, air policing and anti‑drone assets to plug gaps while Romania accelerates a multi-year defence upgrade and a joint counter‑drone project with Ukraine.

A Romanian law enforcement officer works on the site of an explosion at a residential block of flats following a drone hit close to the border with Ukraine, in Galati, Romania, May 29, 2026. Inquam Photos/George Calin via REUTERS /File Photo
British Foreign Secretary, Yvette Cooper arrives at the 135th Session of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe at the Palace of the Republic in Chisinau, Moldova, May 15, 2026. REUTERS/Vladislav Culiomza
Romania's Foreign Minister Oana-Silvia Toiu speaks on the day she attends an EU Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels, Belgium December 15, 2025. REUTERS/Omar Havana/File Photo
The drone strike was the first such to cause casualties in Romania

Overview

  • A Russian-made Geran-2 drone crashed into a 10-storey apartment block in Galați on May 29, injuring two civilians and marking the first such incident in Romania to cause casualties.
  • Romanian authorities say pilots tracked the incoming drone but chose not to fire missiles because interceptions over built-up areas risked further civilian harm.
  • Romania has presented allies with a detailed list of needs and several NATO and EU countries are preparing to provide extra radar coverage, fighter jets for air policing and anti-drone technology as a short-term bridge.
  • Bucharest plans a roughly €2 billion long-term modernisation of air defences and a €200 million joint project with Ukraine to produce counter-drone systems that can address low-cost aerial threats.
  • The strike has prompted diplomatic condemnations and questions for Moscow, which urges further wreckage analysis, while Romania points to more than 40 earlier drone incursions and growing spillover risks along its border and in the Black Sea.