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Russian Drone Strikes Romanian Apartment, Injuring Two
Developing
In Short: A Russian drone entered Romanian airspace and struck an apartment building in Galați, injuring two people, marking the first residential building hit and the first casualty in such an incident.
The incident occurred during a night of renewed Russian drone attacks on Ukraine, near the Romanian border, according to the Romanian defense ministry.
In response, two F-16 fighter jets were scrambled, and NATO flew an Airborne Early Warning E-3A aircraft to increase air-domain awareness.
Local emergency services reported that two people with abrasions required medical treatment, and the fire caused by the drone was quickly extinguished.
This event is significant as it marks the first time a residential building was hit by a Russian drone in Romania, and the first time anyone was injured in such an incident since the start of Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Background
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which borders it to the east and northeast.
What's confirmed
What's still developing
- Updated on: May 29, 2026 / 3:50 PM EDT / CBS/AFP A Russian drone struck an apartment building in NATO-member Romania, its defense ministry said early Friday morning, wounding two people.
- "During the night of May 28-29, the Russian Federation resumed drone attacks on civilian and infrastructure targets in Ukraine, near the river border with Romania," the ministry said.
- Two F-16 fighter jets were scrambled after the drones were detected in Romanian airspace, according to the ministry.
- A senior NATO military official told CBS News that NATO flew an Airborne Early Warning E-3A aircraft to increase air-domain awareness after the Russian incursion into Romania's airspace.
- "NATO detected and tracked the Russian drone, but it entered Romanian airspace only minutes before striking the apartment building in Galați," the official said.
- Local emergency services said two people with abrasions required medical treatment, and noted that the fire was extinguished.
- Russia's state-run TASS new agency cited Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying President Vladimir Putin was informed about the drone incident in Romania, but there was no further comment.
- Drone incursions have been detected dozens of times in Romania since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, but the overnight incident was the first time a residential building was hit, and the…