Watch: Emergency services at the scene in Galati, Romania, after a Russian drone struck an apartment building
A Russian drone has hit an apartment building in Romania, injuring two people, in an incident that the head of Nato condemned as “reckless”.
The roof of the building in Galati, which lies near the southeastern border with Ukraine, was left visibly charred, with debris seen scattered on the ground below.
The drone entered the country’s airspace shortly before 2am on Friday, according to Romania’s defence ministry – around the same time Ukrainian authorities reported an attack on the nearby port of Izmail.
Russia has not yet commented on the incident.
Romania is a member of Nato, a transatlantic defence pact involving the United States, which employs the principle that an attack on one is an attack on all.
Nato members have found themselves increasingly responding to Russian drones and missiles that have either entered their airspace or come down in their territory, ramping up tensions with Moscow.
Mark Rutte, Nato’s secretary general, condemned “Russia’s reckless behaviour” on Friday as “a danger to us all”, assuring Romanian President Nicușor Dan that it “stands ready to defend every inch of allied territory”.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen also said the incident showed that Russia “has crossed yet another line”.
She said the European Union will keep strengthening security along its eastern border and was actively drafting another set of sanctions against Russia, the 21st so far.
European countries were also swift to condemn Russia.
Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said the risk of such “serious incidents” was raised by “Putin’s increasing nervousness, driven by military setbacks”.
“Russia is growing weaker on the battlefield in its war against Ukraine, yet it continues to pursue its objectives through brutal drone and missile attacks,” he said in a statement.
France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot has summoned Russia’s ambassador and condemned the “irresponsible act”, telling public broadcaster France Inter that Moscow has “targeted a friendly country, an EU and NATO member”.
Latvian President Edgars Rinkevics also condemned the Russian drone strike and said it “stands in full solidarity with our ally Romania and is prepared to support appropriate measures to prevent such violations.”
Russian drones have breached Romania’s airspace 28 times since Moscow began attacking Kyiv’s ports across the Danube, Romania’s defence ministry said on Friday.
In September 2025, Nato fighter jets shot down multiple Russian drones that violated Polish airspace during an attack on neighbouring Ukraine.
The military alliance denounced Moscow for “absolutely dangerous” behaviour that ratcheted up tensions to a new level.
Days after that incident, Romania condemned Moscow’s “irresponsible actions” after alleging that a Russian drone breached Romanian airspace during an attack on Ukraine, prompting Bucharest to scramble fighter jets.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Thursday he was pressing the United States to provide more Patriot air defence missiles able to counter the Russian attacks.
He warned that deliveries to Ukraine are falling dangerously short as the war in Iran diverts and depletes US stocks.
“I believe (the US) must act quicker. We are being very persistent,” Zelenskyy told reporters during a visit to Sweden.
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres warned the UN Security Council that the escalation and intensification of attacks risk getting out of control, with “unknown and unintended consequences.”
He said that more civilians have been killed in the first four months of this year than in the same period in the past three years.
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