Ukraine war: Russian drone crashes into apartment building in Romania’s Galați

A Russian drone crashed into a residential apartment building in the Romanian city of Galați early Friday morning, May 29, triggering an explosion and a fire that injured two people and forced the evacuation of around 70 residents. The authorities described the incident as a serious violation of the country's airspace amid renewed Russian attacks on Ukraine near the Romanian border.

According to Romania's Ministry of National Defense (MApN), Russian forces resumed drone strikes overnight against civilian and infrastructure targets in Ukraine near the Danube border with Romania.

One drone entered Romanian airspace, was tracked by military radars to the southern area of Galați, and crashed onto the roof of an apartment block at around 2 a.m., Agerpres reported. The impact caused an explosion and a fire in a 10th-floor apartment. Two residents of the affected apartment managed to evacuate themselves before emergency crews arrived.

The authorities issued RO-Alert warnings for residents in the counties of Galați, Tulcea, and Brăila as the incident unfolded. The Romanian Air Force scrambled two F-16 fighter jets from the 86th Air Base in Fetești at 1:19 a.m., supported by an IAR 330 SOCAT military helicopter. The pilots were authorized to engage targets throughout the alert period, the Defense Ministry said.

Emergency responders, police officers, intelligence service specialists, and military personnel were deployed to the scene. The fire was later extinguished, and the Red Intervention Plan was deactivated.

Investigators from the Romanian Intelligence Service determined that the drone's entire explosive payload detonated upon impact. Authorities later identified the aircraft as a Russian-made Geran-2 drone.

According to reports by Agerpres, four people were affected by the incident. Two suffered minor injuries and were transported to the Galați County Emergency Clinical Hospital, while two others received treatment at the scene after suffering panic attacks.

Romania's Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the incident, calling it "a serious and irresponsible escalation" by the Russian Federation.

“A drone involved in the bombing of infrastructure in Ukraine crashed in Romania, in Galați, causing a fire on the roof of a residential building. Two people were slightly injured, and the building was evacuated," the ministry said in a statement.

It added that Romania had informed NATO allies and the Secretary General of the incident and requested measures to accelerate the transfer of anti-drone capabilities to Romania.