Ukraine says Russian drones hit NATO member Romania, Bucharest denies report
By Pavel Polityuk, Tom Balmforth and Luiza Ilie
KYIV/BUCHAREST (Reuters) — Ukraine said on Monday Russian drones had detonated on the territory of NATO member Romania during an overnight air strike on a Ukrainian port across the Danube River, but Bucharest denied its territory had been hit.
Reuters could not independently verify either account, a rare report of stray weapons from the war in Ukraine hitting a neighbouring member of the Western military alliance.
Moscow has conducted long-range air strikes on targets in Ukraine since the start of its invasion last year. Since July, when Moscow abandoned a deal that lifted a de facto Russian blockade of Ukraine's Black Sea (NYSE:SE) ports, it has repeatedly struck Ukrainian river ports that lie across the Danube from Romania.
Russian launched its air strike hours before President Vladimir Putin was due to discuss reviving the Black Sea deal with the deal's sponsor, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan.
«According to Ukraine's state border guard service, last night, during a massive Russian attack near the port of Izmail, Russian 'Shakheds' fell and detonated on the territory of Romania,» foreign ministry spokesperson Oleg Nikolenko said, referring to Iranian-made drones.
«This is yet another confirmation that Russia's missile terror poses a huge threat not only to Ukraine's security, but also to the security of neighbouring countries, including NATO member states,» he wrote on Facebook (NASDAQ:META).
Nikolenko published a photo showing flames of an explosion visible from across a river. Reuters could not immediately verify the vantage point of the image.
The Romanian Defence Ministry said Romania was not hit.
«The ministry of defence categorically denies information from the
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