Ministry of National Defence of Romania

02/12/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 02/12/2024 02:28

Press Release

During the night of 9/10 February, the Russian Forces conducted drone attacks against the Ukrainian infrastructure Ports of Ismail and Reni, in the proximity of the Ukrainian-Romanian border.

Ministry of National Defence monitored the situation in the frontier area and activated the Air Policing procedures, notifying the General Inspectorate for Emergency Situations (GIES), around 00.26 and at 00.48 with respect to the areas in Tulcea County and Galați County that could have been affected by the risks associated with this situation.

GIES issued RO-Alert messages for these two counties, and the aerial pre-alert state ceased around 02.50.
Romanian Air Force F-16 aircraft of the 86th Air Base Fetești took off around 01.15 in order to perform air reconnaissance missions.

At 05.00, following the resumption of the attacks, a new notification was sent to the General Inspectorate for Emergency Situations for Tulcea and Galați Counties, a RO-Alert message being sent.

Two F-16 aircraft of the Romanian Air Force of the 86th Air Base Fetești were prepared to conduct Air Policing Missions, but the development of the aerial situation did not require their taking off.

The aerial pre-alert state for Tulcea and Galați Counties ceased at 06.20.

Although in either of the two waves of attacks on the Ukrainian ports the radar surveillance system of the Romanian Armed Forces did not indicate unauthorized intrusions into the national airspace and no possible accidental drops of drone debris were reported by means of surveillance and observation, in these attacks on the national territory, MoND teams have been carrying out additional check-ups in the field, in the Ceatalchioi area, Tulcea County, since 8 o'clock.

The Ministry of National Defence strongly condemns the attacks carried out by the Russian Federation against certain facilities and elements of civil infrastructure in the Ukrainian Ports on the Danube. These attacks are unjustified and severely break the rules of international humanitarian law. MoND forces will continue airspace monitoring and research missions in areas where risks may arise as a result of these situations.