Romania scrambled two F-16 fighter jets on Thursday to destroy an explosive-laden marine drone detected near the Neptun Deep offshore gas project in the Black Sea, Romanian officials said. The small maritime drone was spotted in Romania’s exclusive economic zone near the Neptun Alpha platform, according to Romania’s Defense Ministry. One of the F-16s engaged the target with its onboard cannon and struck it.JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official. Defense Minister Radu Miruță said the drone had approached within several hundred meters of the project and posed a danger to both critical infrastructure and hundreds of people working at the site. “In order to protect the lives of the several hundred people working on the platform and to secure critical infrastructure, the decision was made to destroy [the marine drone],” Miruță said. A vessel later reached the area and completed the drone’s destruction, the minister said, adding that it had been carrying explosives. Miruță did not initially identify who launched the drone. He said Romanian authorities contacted Ukraine through a newly established communication channel and Kyiv confirmed that the unmanned vessel did not belong to Ukrainian forces. Romanian President Nicușor Dan pointed to Russia as responsible for the incident, condemning what he described as an intensifying pattern of reckless Russian actions in the Black Sea. “I strongly condemn the intensification of these types of irresponsible incidents on the part of the Russian Federation,” Dan said, adding that Romania would remain vigilant alongside its NATO allies. Russia had not immediately commented. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen described the incident as part of what she called an “escalating campaign of threats.” Thursday’s incident comes amid growing concern over the security of energy and commercial infrastructure in the Black Sea as Russia’s war against Ukraine continues. Earlier in August, Romanian military divers destroyed two Gerbera-type drones found drifting in Romania’s exclusive economic zone near the Neptun Deep area. Romanian naval specialists also recovered a drone wing near the Neptun Alpha platform on Aug. 16 after it was spotted by a commercial vessel.