Romania scrambles F-16s as drones near Tulcea border, one downed over Ukraine
Romania's Ministry of National Defence said a target briefly entered Romanian airspace east of Sulina on Wednesday, 14 October, before Ukrainian air defence shot it down. RO-Alert warnings went out to residents of northern Tulcea county.
Early warning near Vylkove
Romania's Ministry of National Defence (MApN) said its radar detected aerial targets on Wednesday morning, 14 October, near the Ukrainian town of Vylkove, close to the Romanian border. The ministry said the targets did not enter national airspace. Two F-16 fighter jets of the Romanian Air Force, based at Borcea 86 Air Base, were lifted off the ground to monitor the situation, and Mediafax also reported an IAR-330 SOCAT helicopter being scrambled. The National Military Command Centre notified the General Inspectorate for Emergency Situations, which prompted an RO-Alert message to northern Tulcea county at 06:39, a time Ziare.com put at about 06:40. The message warned of a possible drone incursion and told residents to stay calm and take shelter in cellars or civil protection shelters, or otherwise stay indoors away from windows and exterior walls.
The three aerial targets did not enter national airspace.
A target enters Romanian airspace
The ministry later reported a second incident, which it described as the second it had announced that day. According to the ministry's Facebook post, a single target briefly moved over the Black Sea east of Sulina, entered Romanian airspace, then crossed into Ukrainian airspace, where Ukrainian air defence shot it down. Two F-16s were lifted off the ground for this incident as well. A second RO-Alert was transmitted at 10:19 to residents in the east and north of Tulcea county, and the air alert ended at 11:22. The ministry's account of the second target differs from the earlier radar picture, in which three targets stayed near Vylkove outside Romanian airspace.
- RO-Alert sent to northern Tulcea county warning of a possible drone incursion
- Second RO-Alert sent to eastern and northern Tulcea county as a target approached the border
- Air alert ended
Local response and alert history
Representatives of ISU Tulcea said that, at the time of reporting, no emergency calls had been received, and adevarul.ro reported that no incidents had been recorded in the targeted area. The RO-Alert messages were issued in the context of the war Russia launched in Ukraine. Ziare.com reported that since the start of 2026 the number of RO-Alert messages sent by the General Inspectorate for Emergency Situations to residents of Tulcea county for this reason has exceeded the number of extreme-alert messages sent across Romania for the same cause during 2023 to 2025. The alert warnings in Tulcea asked residents to remain calm and avoid windows, and no damage or injuries were reported in the sources reviewed.