A German Air Force Eurofighter Typhoon jet flies over Japan in September of 2022. NATO sent two Typhoons to monitor Romania’s border with Ukraine during Russian drone strikes. File Photo by Keizo Mori/UPI | License Photo
NATO deployed two German fighter jets in its airspace in response to a Russian drone attack on Ukraine, officials in Romania said Wednesday.
The Romanian Ministry of National Defense ts aerial surveillance system “identified groups of drones launched by the Russian Federation, which attacked the Ukrainian ports on the Danube,” late Tuesday into early Wednesday.
In a NATO response, two German Air Force Typhoon planes that had already been stationed at Romania’s 57th Air Base to help keep the nation’s airspace secure were scrambled to monitor the country’s border with Ukraine in the Romanian county of Tulcea.
According to the Defense Ministry, no aerial vehicles of any sort were found to intrude into Romanian airspace and the jets returned to the airbase without issue.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed Wednesday that a gas distribution station in the country’s Odesa region, which borders Tulcea County, was among several places attacked by Russia during the overnight.
The ministry had previously reported earlier this month it had contacted NATO after Russian forces launched a drone attack on Ukraine near the Romanian border, close enough to set off warning alerts in northern Tulcea.
NATO had announced in July that German fighter jets were being deployed to Romania for eight months as part of the alliance’s air policing mission in southeastern Europe, taking over for the Italian Air Force, which was previously handling that task.
