Tensions ramp up as NATO country finds drone fragments within its borders
The war has strayed outside of the borders of Ukraine multiple times in recent days, raising tensions in eastern Europe.
Following a night of intense missile and drone strikes launched on Ukraine by Russia, Romania announced on March 29 that it had found drone fragments in its territory.
The Romanian Defence Ministry said the fragments were found on a farm near the country's border with Ukraine. The farm, officials said, is located near the Danube River, on the Great Brăila Island.
The Ministry said in a statement: "On the evening of 28 March, fragments that appear to have come from an aerial device [drone] on a farmland in the Great Braila Island were identified.
"The Ministry of National Defence, together with specialised structures within the national defence system, public order and national security, is conducting an investigation of the incident on Friday 29 March according to specific operational procedures."
Army search teams were deployed to the region to investigate the finding, local media claimed.
People in the area reportedly heard "strange noises" and shared footage seemingly showing the drone falling from the sky.
Early reports didn't share whether the drone came from Ukraine and who had launched it.
The fragments were found after Ukrainians endured yet another night of intense air strikes, with Russia launching 58 attack drones and 26 cruise missiles.
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Romania has been a member of NATO since 2004. Any deliberate attack against the eastern European nation could prompt a conflict involving the whole of the military alliance, in line with its treaty's Article 5. These drone fragments don't appear to be the result of a real threat against Romania.
This is far from the first time the war, started by the Kremlin's decision to invade Ukraine in February 2022, has affected Kyiv's neighbours.
In the early hours of Friday, Poland announced "Polish and allied aircraft have been activated" in the wake of "intense activity of long-range aviation of the Russian Federation, related to missile strikes of Tu-95, Tu-22 and MIG-31 aircraft carried out against objects located in the territory of Ukraine".
Also overnight, Moldova said three explosions were heard near its border with Ukraine, in the Novodnestrovsk region.
The Moldovan border force said in a statement: "Regarding the information that Russian missiles would have flown over the airspace of the Republic of Moldova last night, we would like to mention that all airspace surveillance and monitoring systems did not detect any unauthorised entry, an aspect also confirmed by the Ukrainian authorities."
Last Sunday, one of Russia's missiles entered for 39 seconds the Polish airspace as the Kremlin was launching yet another attack on western Ukraine.
Romania had previously reported a number of objects from the war landing on its territories - including a drone, which crashed in the NATO country in December last year during a Russian attack on a Ukrainian port.
