Romania activates RO-Alert in Tulcea as Russian drones strike near Danube border, Italian Eurofighters scramble

What happened

Shortly after midnight on 14 June, the General Inspectorate for Emergency Situations (IGSU) sent a RO-Alert message to phones in northern Tulcea county, warning that objects could fall from the airspace. The alert followed a new series of Russian drone strikes on civilian and infrastructure targets in Ukraine, in the vicinity of the Danube border with Romania. The National Military Command Centre notified the IGSU, and the warning was dispatched at 00:02. Two Italian Air Force Eurofighter Typhoon jets already on NATO air policing duty at Base 57 Mihail Kogălniceanu took off at 00:10 to monitor a group of aerial targets evolving roughly 12 km east of Vâlcove, in Ukrainian territory.

Response and monitoring

Throughout the alert, no unauthorised airspace penetrations or ground impacts were reported on Romanian territory. The air alert was lifted at 01:11, and the Eurofighters returned to base at 01:44. Residents were advised to follow official instructions and call the 112 emergency number if they spotted dangerous falling objects.

“No unauthorised penetrations or ground impacts of any aerial vehicle were reported.”

The Defence Ministry added that it is informing allied structures in real time about the situation and maintaining constant contact with them.

Recurring border incidents

The alert is the latest in a series triggered by the war in Ukraine. According to Digi24, Romanian authorities have identified drone fragments on the country’s soil in 47 instances since the start of the conflict, 12 of them in 2026 alone. At the end of May, a Russian Geran 2 drone crashed into a block of flats in Galați, causing an explosion and fire that injured two people. That incident prompted a RO-Alert across Brăila, Tulcea and Galați, and F-16s were scrambled from Fetești airbase, with pilots authorised to engage targets.