Spanish NATO Jet Destroys Russian Drone in Romanian Airspace
A Spanish F/A-18 Hornet, deployed under the NATO Air Policing mission, intercepted and shot down a Russian drone that entered Romanian airspace from Moldova near the city of Galați. The kinetic interception occurred after the drone bypassed Moldovan monitoring and crossed the Danube border. This incident marks a direct NATO engagement with a Russian asset within sovereign alliance territory, significantly escalating regional tensions. Romanian authorities are conducting a debris recovery operation to analyze the drone's origin.
Date: August 18, 2026
Location: Galați, Romania
Conflict: Russia-Ukraine War
Category: airstrike
Severity: HIGH
Source: Politico