The Defense Ministry (MApN) said on Sunday, January 18, that fragments believed to be from a drone were recovered from a household in Vrancea county, eastern Romania. The pieces were collected from the site for further analysis.

“On the morning of January 18, at the request of the Vrancea County Police Inspectorate, the Ministry of National Defense dispatched a team of specialists to carry out a joint investigation in the locality of Tănăsoaia, following the discovery of metallic debris indicating a possible aerial vehicle,” reads the ministry’s announcement.

This is not the first such incident in the area. A drone was previously found crashed in Vaslui county in November 2025, near the locality of Puiești, after it had appeared on radar systems in the Tulcea and Galați areas.

In a separate statement, the MApN said its radar surveillance systems detected a group of Russian drones operating in Ukrainian airspace early on Sunday, around 10 kilometres north of Romania’s border. The drones were identified at around 1:15 a.m. during what the ministry described as an attack on Ukrainian Danube ports.

Two F-16 fighter jets from the 86th Air Base Fetești were placed on standby to prepare for an air monitoring mission. The mission was later cancelled after the radar targets disappeared, with the aircraft remaining on the ground.

Since the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, more than 70 drone attacks have been recorded in the vicinity of Romania’s border, the Defense Ministry added.

irina.marica@romania-insider.com

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