Russia’s incursions into European airspace keep increasing, with three separate incidents recorded between Wednesday morning and Thursday morning in Poland, Moldova and Romania.
Four Russian drones entered Moldovan airspace during Russia’s massive overnight attack on Ukraine, with at least one exploding in the north of the country. Moldovan authorities temporarily closed part of the country’s northern airspace, while debris from a Gerbera-type drone used by Russia was discovered in the Florești district. President Maia Sandu condemned the incursions, saying that Russia’s war was putting the whole of Europe at risk.
Another drone entered Romanian airspace on Thursday morning, prompting two Romanian F-16 fighter jets to scramble from Borcea Air Base. The drone remained inside Romanian airspace for around four minutes before crashing near Solca in Suceava County. No casualties or material damage were reported. Romanian authorities also scrambled Spanish F-18 fighters stationed in the country after another group of aerial targets was detected close to the Romanian border during the Russian attack on Ukraine.
Russian drone incursions into Romania have become increasingly frequent.
Romania’s Defence Ministry says it has recorded 47 unauthorised incursions since the beginning of the war, 28 of them during 2026 alone.
Less than 24 hours earlier, a Russian Mi-8 military helicopter violated Polish airspace north of Braniewo, close to Russia’s Kaliningrad exclave. The helicopter entered around 300 metres into Polish territory and remained there for approximately 42 seconds before returning to Russian airspace.
Polish fighter jets were scrambled while ground-based air-defence forces were placed on standby. The Polish Armed Forces said the nature of the incident indicated that Russia was once again testing the readiness of Poland’s air defences.
Footage below of Romanian drone incident by News Bucovina.
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