A Russian drone struck an apartment building in NATO-member Romania early Friday, injuring two people in what marks a sharp escalation in spillover from the war in Ukraine. The incident drew strong condemnation from the Atlantic alliance and the European Union.
Romania summoned the Russian ambassador, while President Nicusor Dan convened the national defense council, calling it “the most serious incident to have affected our national territory” since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
The drone hit a residential building in the city of Galati, near the Ukrainian border, sparking a fire and sending a 14-year-old boy and a 53-year-old woman to a hospital with serious injuries, officials said.
Romania has reported dozens of drone incursions since the start of the war, but this is the first confirmed strike on a residential building.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Russia’s “war of aggression has crossed yet another line” with the strike. “We stand in full solidarity with Romania and its people,” she wrote on social media, pledging to increase deterrence along the EU’s eastern border and to keep increasing pressure on Russia.
