Russian Drone Just Injured Two Civilians in Romania for the First Time. What Will NATO Do?

May 29, 2026 16:45

7 min read

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Joseph Place

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For the first time since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, a drone struck an apartment block in Romania and injured two people. This is a major escalation in Russia’s war, and the EU, NATO, Romania, and other countries have condemned the attack. Romania has been hit before by Russian drones; however, they never hit an apartment block or injured Romanians. 

Russia’s drone strikes a NATO member

A drone hit the roof of an apartment building in the city of Galați, which is close to the border with Ukraine in the country’s south-east. The Romanian Defense Ministry stated that “During the night of May 28 to 29, the Russian Federation resumed drone attacks on civilian and infrastructure targets in Ukraine, in the vicinity of the river border with Romania.” 

Romania’s Ministry of National Defense said that it was a Russian Geran-2 drone—the Shahed equivalent—that struck the residential high-rise, with preliminary findings indicating that its entire payload detonated upon impact.

Two Romanians sustained injuries, and the building was evacuated. The injured were transported to the Galați County Emergency Clinical Hospital for medical treatment.

Romania did not shoot down the drone. Brigadier General Gheorghe Maxim said to Romanian outlet digi24 that there were restrictions:

"The first limitation we have is a legal one, the fact that we cannot fire in such a way that the project affects the airspace of a neighboring country. Furthermore, to engage an aerial target, a certain amount of time is needed, which involves detention, classification, and combat.”

The 4-minute time we had at our disposal was extremely short.

“We have ground-based air defense systems that were designed and built before 2023, when this drone war started,” he said. “Romania has a permanent concern to improve these systems.” 

This shows a troubling gap in air defense preparedness at a time of escalating Russian attacks and raises questions about readiness on Europe’s eastern flank. Faced with Russian barrages that can exceed 1,000 aerial threats in a single night, Ukraine has been forced to rapidly adapt and strengthen its air defenses. After more than four years of full-scale war, Ukraine now intercepts roughly 80% of incoming threats on average and is working to increase the interception rate to 95%.

Previous Russian attacks on Romania 

This is not the first time Russian drones have crossed into Romania. In the same month, the same Galați was also hit—outside of a building with no one harmed. In fact, Russia has violated Romania’s airspace 28 times since 2022.

Here are some of the most notable Russian drone attacks that reached Romania:

Usually, the response has been minimal, though jets have been scrambled before. Drones have never been shot down, and Romania has been cautious at a consistent level. Romania is also not the only country neighboring Ukraine (or Russia) that has had Russian drones enter its territory. We have seen drones in Poland, and they have also found drone fragments in Moldova. 

This new Russian strike on Romania, however, marks an escalation. The question is, what now?  

How did NATO respond? 

President of Romania Nicușor Dan said this was the “most serious security incident on Romanian territory.”

He also singled out Russia, saying “Full responsibility lies with the Russian Federation, whose behavior shows total disregard for international law and the safety of the citizens of a NATO state.” Dan demanded a strong international response against this. 

Czech president Petr Pavel has said NATO must respond strongly, saying, “We should not stop at simply condemning it together. I therefore unequivocally support Romanian President Dan’s call for a strong international response. Russia must clearly understand that we will not tolerate such attacks.”

Hungary’s Prime Minister, Peter Magyar, also said that “Russian drone attack once again highlights that the unity of Europe and NATO is more important today than ever before”. 

"Russia's war of aggression has crossed yet another line," said Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the European Commission. Mark Rutte, NATO’s Secretary General, said: “Russia's reckless behaviour is a danger to us all.” 

What can be done next

Romania’s acting Foreign Minister Oana Ţoiu said the drone strike “calls within the category that justifies" invoking Article 4, digi24 reports. Article 4 states that “The Parties will consult together whenever, in the opinion of any of them, the territorial integrity, political independence or security of any of the Parties is threatened.” This is in contrast to Article 5, which requires other NATO members to come to their aid for defense purposes. That was only activated after the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the USA. 

Romania and other countries invoked Article 4 in 2022 when Russia first launched its full-scale invasion, and Estonia followed after airspace violations. Poland also invoked Article 4 after Russian drone strikes on the country. 

Responses available, aside from Article 4, could include strengthening sanctions and closing loopholes to slow down and diminish drone manufacturing and put more pressure on Russia to come to the negotiating table. Russia’s economy is already fragile; now is a perfect time to go wider. 

Europe could increase its air defense readiness and adjust restrictions that are roadblocks to its security. The fact that Romania could not respond in time due to physical and legal restrictions offers a warning in the event of a more direct war with Russia. Adjusting this deterrent will make Russia less likely to risk hitting European countries. 

In addition, Ukraine can factor directly into the defense of Europe, with its drone warfare expertise, growing military industrial base, and experience. Zelensky said on X that Ukraine is “ready to support Romania in whatever way is necessary,” underscoring Ukraine's role in European security. 

Ultimately, providing more aid to Ukraine can weaken Russia’s military capabilities and war machine. This would be what forces Russia to stop its invasion of Ukraine and prevent it from escalating further. A Ukrainian victory is in the interest of European security. 

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