Romanian F-16 downs drone over Black Sea near Sulina

At 10:13 EEST (07:13 UTC) on Sunday, July 26, 2026, a Romanian Air Force F-16 shot down a drone over Romanian territorial waters in the Black Sea, 12 km northeast of the coastal town of Sulina, Tulcea county. The intercept was completed within five minutes of the drone entering Romanian airspace, the fastest response in the three consecutive-day shoot-down series. Romania's Foreign Ministry subsequently summoned Russia's ambassador over what it described as "repeated violations" of NATO airspace.

This was Romania's third drone intercept in three consecutive days, following shoot-downs near Padina, Buzău county on 24 July and near Sfântu Gheorghe, Tulcea county on 25 July. The July 26 drone brought Romania's documented total to 33 airspace breaches since Russia began targeting Ukrainian Danube port infrastructure with Shahed-136 and Geran-2 drones.

Romania intercepted the drone within five minutes, over open Black Sea water

The drone entered Romanian airspace and was engaged 12 km northeast of Sulina in Romanian Black Sea territorial waters within five minutes of detection. The three consecutive July intercepts show a clear compression in both response time and ground track:

• 24 July (Padina): drone entered east of Sulina, travelled approximately 200 km over Romanian territory, downed after roughly 80 minutes.
• 25 July (Sfântu Gheorghe): drone entered near Sfântu Gheorghe, downed 10 km inside the border after 12 minutes.
• 26 July (Sulina): drone entered, downed within 5 minutes and 12 km over Black Sea territorial waters.

The July 26 shoot-down is the first of the three to take place over the Black Sea rather than over Danube Delta land. Sulina sits at the mouth of the Sulina arm of the Danube, the delta's main navigable channel to the sea, and Romania's territorial waters extend 12 nautical miles from the baseline. The drone was destroyed inside that zone with no debris falling on populated land.

Romania summoned Russia's ambassador: President Dan, FM Toiu, and PM Bolojan condemned the breaches

Following the third consecutive intercept, Romania's Foreign Ministry summoned Russia's ambassador to Bucharest. Foreign Minister Oana Toiu described the diplomatic step as a response to "repeated violations." President Nicușor Dan stated that it was "inadmissible and intolerable for the Russian Federation to continue violating Romania's airspace, which is, at the same time, NATO airspace and European Union airspace." Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan called the breaches "unacceptable."

President Dan also publicly congratulated Romanian pilots and ground crews for "the professionalism, courage and efficiency with which they carried out their mission" across all three intercepts.

The July sequence brings Romania's documented total to 33 breaches since 2022

Romania's defence ministry stated that Russian drones had entered Romanian airspace without permission 33 times since Russia began targeting Ukraine's Danube infrastructure, three of those in three days in late July 2026. The three July shoot-downs are the first instances of Romanian forces destroying intruders over Romanian territory. Before July 2026, Romania had not intercepted a single drone over its own soil despite repeated incursions; the shift followed the May 29, 2026 strike in which a Geran-2 hit a 10-storey apartment block on Bulevardul Brăilei in Galați, injuring two residents in the first confirmed case of a Russian drone wounding civilians on NATO territory.

The drone type from the July 26 shoot-down remained under investigation by Romania's General Prosecutor's Office at the time of reporting. The drone downed on 24 July was confirmed as a Shahed type used by Russian forces; the 25 and 26 July drones had not yet completed forensic examination.

This reconstruction draws on reporting by United24 Media, Al Jazeera, Kyiv Independent, Romania Insider, and Ukrainska Pravda, and on AirVeto's wind-model data for the 07:08-07:13 UTC window on July 26, 2026. At the time of the event, winds over the Sulina area pushed SE at 3,000 m (13 km/h) and pushed SE at 2,000 m (17 km/h), consistent with the drone's approach track from the northeast. The wind layer shows atmospheric conditions over the Sulina area and Romanian Black Sea territorial waters for the intercept window. Methodology: methodology page. Full incident archive: incident archive.