Ukrainian military aircraft briefly enter Romanian airspace during major Russian attack

Four Ukrainian military aircraft unintentionally entered Romanian airspace for several minutes during the night of July 20 to 21, amid a large-scale Russian attack on Ukraine's airport infrastructure. The Romanian Ministry of National Defence (MApN) confirmed the incident, stating that two Romanian F-16s and two Italian Eurofighter Typhoons were scrambled as a precaution, but the aircraft did not pose a real threat to national security.

According to the Romanian ministry, around 3:00 a.m., radar surveillance systems detected aerial targets on multiple flight paths in Ukrainian airspace, north of Romania's border, near the Maramureș and Suceava regions. Ukrainian authorities later confirmed that massive Russian strikes had targeted western Ukrainian airfields, prompting emergency dispersal of military aircraft.

Between 3:30 and 6:00 a.m., twelve Ukrainian aerial targets were detected flying over Ukraine, near Romania's northern border. Four of them briefly and unintentionally crossed into Romanian territory in the areas of Sighetu Marmației and Vicovu de Sus, MApN said, adding that they posed no danger to the safety of citizens or Romanian assets.

In response, two Romanian F-16s took off around 3:30 a.m. from the 86th Air Base in Borcea to conduct aerial surveillance missions. Around 5:00 a.m., two Italian Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft, part of NATO's Air Policing mission, were also scrambled from the Mihail Kogălniceanu Air Base.

Following the missions, the Romanian F-16s landed back at Borcea around 6:00 a.m., and the Italian Typhoons returned to Mihail Kogălniceanu around 7:00 a.m.

"Although our country is not directly targeted, the ongoing fighting in Ukraine, near our national territory, as well as the attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure, require precautionary measures to protect Romanian citizens and critical infrastructure," the MApN said.

Throughout the night, explosions and intense Ukrainian anti-aircraft activity were reported near the Romanian border, with Ivano-Frankivsk appearing to be the most affected area, Biziday.ro reported. Local authorities reportedly said Russia launched the largest missile and drone attack since the beginning of the invasion, targeting civilian infrastructure. In Kyiv, one person was killed and six others were injured.

(Photo source: Ivan Cholakov/Dreamstime.com)