The Romanian city of Galati has been hit by Russian drones carrying 30 kilograms of explosives.
The attack occurred in the early hours of the day and the drone smashed into a ten-story apartment block.
It injured a woman and her teenage son.
Romania is a NATO country and if attacked, can trigger NATO’s Article 5, which says an attack on one is an attack on all. But it has not been triggered yet, mainly because the attack is not a sustained effort.
What’s more, the prevailing view is that this was an accidental strike, not deliberate. Whilst the Russian authorities had equivocated about the strike, even suggesting that neighbour Ukraine might be responsible, experts have also suggested that Romania’s anti-drone systems might have caused the drone to miss its intended target and veer off course.
Other observers believe this is Russian flexing its muscles and deliberately targeting other European countries to draw them into the war.
Last September over ten drones entered Polish airspace and had to be shot down by NATO fighters. Estonian airspace has also been violated, as well as Lithuania and Latvia.
Galati is just 15 miles from Reni, the Ukrainian port which suffers attacks almost nightly, because it is Ukraine’s largest grain-export facilities.
Galați is the capital city of Galați County in the historical region of Western Moldavia, in eastern Romania. Galați is a port town on the river Danube and the sixth-largest of all cities on the river Danube and the 8th most populous city in Romania.
Since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, two drones have hit city buildings.
One witness told the media: “After the collision, chaos broke out: firefighters, rescue teams, police, and ambulances arrived and cordoned off the area.”
Another said: “That night I was really scared; this isn’t the first time we’ve received an alert of this kind, but that night, after waking and reading the message, I had a premonition — I couldn’t fall back asleep as I usually do.”
The US reaction remains mixed, with Matthew Whitaker, the US ambassador to NATO, stating in an online post: “We stand with our NATO ally Romania and condemn this reckless incursion on its territory. Our thoughts are with the injured in Galati. We will defend every inch of NATO territory.”
However, President Trump has been quiet on the matter.
Observers agree this is unlikely to be the last of such incidents.
