Romania has requested an urgent meeting after a Russian drone entered its airspace on Friday night and struck an apartment building in the eastern city of Galati, injuring two people.
Kayoko Gotoh, Director of the UN’s Political and Peacebuilding Affairs Department, stated, “The dangerous incident last Friday has materialized the warnings we have frequently voiced about the potential for the war to spill over.” She noted that this was not the first violation of Romanian airspace since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began, but it was the first instance of such an incident resulting in casualties.
Gotoh added that this development follows a concerning trend of drones entering the airspace and territorial waters of countries bordering Ukraine or the Russian Federation. Similar incidents have been reported in the past 12 months from countries including Moldova, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Finland, Poland, Kazakhstan, Belarus, as well as regional nations like Bulgaria, Greece, and Turkey.
Gotoh highlighted that the incident in Galati coincided with a sharp escalation in the Russian Federation’s armed forces’ large-scale missile and drone attacks on Ukrainian towns and cities, leading to increased civilian casualties and infrastructure destruction. She also noted a significant rise in Ukraine’s attacks on military, energy, and industrial infrastructure within the Russian Federation, resulting in a growing number of civilian casualties and damages.
Nuclear Safety Concerns
Gotoh reminded attendees that the meeting occurred a week after UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned that the dangerous trajectory of escalation risked spiraling out of control and that “this trajectory must be changed.” She further stated that the risk of miscalculation is particularly dangerous for the safety of nuclear facilities, which has increased in recent days. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reported on May 30 that a drone struck the turbine building at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, creating a hole in the wall. This was the first attack in the vicinity of the plant in two years.
Amidst the heightened tensions, Gotoh emphasized the need for everyone to act responsibly and refrain from any actions that could further destabilize the situation. She reiterated the UN’s commitment to supporting efforts for a just, lasting, and comprehensive peace in Ukraine, contributing to a more stable regional and international environment.
Russia Denies Accusations, Demands ‘Objective’ Investigation
Russia’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Vasily Nebenzya, asserted that Romania had convened the meeting “hastily” and leveled “baseless and biased accusations” against his country. Nebenzya argued that the meeting’s true purpose was to satisfy the “demand of Western countries to create another anti-Russian media show at all costs.” Nebenzya stated that Russian forces conducted operations targeting Ukrainian military infrastructure overnight in response to Ukraine’s “terrorist attacks.” He specified that these attacks were directed at shops supplying military goods to Ukraine and facilities in the Odesa region. Nebenzya addressed the incident reported in Galati, noting it involved an alleged strike by a Russian Geran-2 drone on an apartment building’s roof, and that such a drone carries a 50-kilogram explosive payload. “If such a drone had hit the roof of a building, as alleged, the roof would have been completely destroyed,” Nebenzya stated. He called for a “comprehensive, objective, and depoliticized” investigation into all circumstances.
Romania: Escalation Must Not Become the ‘New Normal’
Romania’s Foreign Minister, Oana-Silvia Ţoiu, underscored that this was the first time her country had called an emergency meeting of the Security Council on a matter directly related to its security, stating, “the gravity of this moment cannot be overstated.” “We have a shared responsibility not only to draw a line but to ensure we do not cross that line,” she said. “It is imperative that the Council addresses this unnecessary escalation by the Russian Federation in its war of aggression. We must not accept this current escalation as the new normal.”
Ukraine Criticizes Russia’s ‘Denial and Distortion’
Ukraine’s representative stated that the Russian Ambassador continued to “sing the same old song and resort to well-known patterns of denial and distortion.” He affirmed Ukraine’s full trust in the Romanian authorities’ conclusion that “this incident was indeed a Russian drone.” The Ukrainian representative added, “What happened in Romania is not an isolated incident and must be taken seriously.”
