Russian drone hits Romanian apartment block, injures two near Ukraine border

A Russian drone tore into the roof of a 10-story apartment block in Galați, eastern Romania, overnight on May 28-29, sending an explosion and fire through a city that sits close to both the Ukraine and Moldova borders. The impact injured two people, reported as a woman and a child, and forced around 70 residents to leave their homes as Romanian emergency crews moved in.

Romanian authorities said the drone was part of a Russian attack on Ukraine and had crossed into Romanian airspace before hitting the building in the Danube port city. Romania scrambled two F-16 fighter jets and a helicopter, while officials said the drone was tracked by radar as it moved through the country’s airspace. Authorities later identified it as a Russian Geran-2 and said investigators believed it was carrying at least 30 kilograms, or 66 pounds, of explosives.

The strike sharpened fears along NATO’s eastern edge, where the war in Ukraine has repeatedly pushed past borders that once seemed to offer distance. President Nicușor Dan called it the most serious incident to hit Romania’s national territory since Russia’s full-scale invasion began in February 2022, and Romania said Russian drones had breached its airspace 28 times since then. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte condemned Russia’s reckless behavior and said the alliance stood ready to defend every inch of Allied territory.

The Romanian government also moved to raise diplomatic pressure. Officials said the Russian consul in Constanta would be expelled and the Russian consulate there closed, and Romania said it would bring the incident before the UN Security Council. The episode added urgency to Romanian calls for faster anti-drone capabilities, as leaders tried to show that a border violation can no longer be treated as a remote hazard.

For Galați, the attack recalled how close the war has already come. On April 25, another drone incident in the city damaged property, prompted the scrambling of two British fighter jets, and led to about 200 evacuations, though no one was hurt. The latest strike turned that warning into a direct hit on a civilian apartment block, underscoring how ordinary residents are increasingly absorbing the risks of a war that continues to spill across Europe’s frontier.