Russian Drone Strikes Apartment Building in NATO Territory
A Russian drone entered NATO member Romania’s airspace overnight and crashed onto the roof of an apartment building, injuring two people, officials said on Friday.
Romanian President Nicușor Dan said it was “the most serious security incident to occur on Romanian territory” since the start of Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Russian drones have repeatedly strayed into NATO territory since 2022, although these incursions have not been treated as direct attacks on the alliance so far.
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But as Ukrainian drones targeting Russian assets have increasingly veered into NATO countries like the Baltic states and Finland, worries have surged over how often the war is leaking into alliance territory.
The drone that struck the apartment building on Friday was one of several picked up by radar while flying close to Romania’s border with Ukraine. It struck a residential building in the southeastern city of Galați and exploded, Bucharest’s defense ministry said.
Galați sits close to the border with both Ukraine and Moldova.
Two people sustained minor injuries and several residents required medical attention, said Romanian Foreign Minister Oana Țoiu. She said Russia’s ambassador to the country had been summoned to the foreign ministry.
Romania’s defense ministry said investigators were on site in Galați and initial information suggested the “entire load” of explosives packed into the drone detonated when the device struck the apartment building.
Bucharest identified the drone as a Geran-2, the Russian-made version of Iran’s notorious Shahed attack drones that Moscow has widely used against Ukraine.
Two Romanian F-16 fighter jets took off from an air base southwest of Galați at 1:19 a.m. local time on Friday and emergency alerts went out to residents around the city, as well as in the nearby Tulcea and Brăila counties, Romania’s government said.
Dan said he had spoken with NATO chief Mark Rutte, thanking the alliance for strengthening anti-drone defenses against Russia in eastern Europe.
Fragments of a Russian drone were found in Galați in late April after an electricity pole and part of a residential building were damaged, but no one was injured.
Romania shares 400 miles of border with Ukraine, and fighter jets stationed in the country frequently take to the skies when the Kremlin bombards Ukraine’s southern port cities.
Russia launched a “massive” drone attack on Ukraine’s southern Odesa region, which is pressed up against Romania, regional governor Oleh Kiper said early on Friday.
Russian drones took out electricity supplies for roughly 4,000 people and struck three merchant ships in the Black Sea close to Ukraine, Kiper said. Crew members onboard the vessels quickly put out the fires and two people received medical care on one of the ships, the governor added.
Update 5/29/2026 at 5:00 a.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information.
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This story was originally published May 29, 2026 at 2:54 AM.