Videos on social media that purport to show Romanian air defense units shooting down Russian attack drones above Ukraine are spreading a false narrative, Romania's Defense Ministry said in a statement on July 26.
Romania's Defense Ministry said that the videos falsely spread "the idea that Romania was targeted by the Russian Federation's drone attacks" against Ukraine.
The claims have "no real basis" as Russia was targeting Ukraine's port infrastructure on the Danube and not targets in Romania, the Defense Ministry said.
Russia launched a drone attack against Izmail in southwestern Ukraine overnight on July 24. The port city lies on the Danube River, which forms the border between Romania and Ukraine.
The attack led the Romanian Air Force to scramble its F-16 fighter jets. Drone debris was found on July 25 in Plauru in Romania, just across the Danube from Izmail.
The caption of one video shared thousands of times on X claimed that Romania had downed Russian drones over Ukrainian airspace using Gepard self-propelled anti-aircraft guns during the attack.
Romanian forces "deployed in the border area with Ukraine did not, in any such situation, fire on the means of attack of Russian Federation," the Defense Ministry said.
"In order to shoot them down, we have to fire on the territory of Ukraine, and I don’t think this is allowed yet, I have not heard of any decision in this regard," Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu said on July 26.
"These drones are usually hit by the Ukrainian artillery and immediately fall on the bank of the Danube. There is still absolutely no danger for Romanians in the area," Ciolacu added.
Romania has taken measures to protect its citizens who live close to the Ukrainian border, including the construction of air raid shelters and the deployment of drone defense systems.
Elsa Court
