Russian Drone Hits Romanian Apartment Block in Galati, Injuring Two as NATO Allies Condemn Moscow

A Russian drone struck a civilian apartment block in the eastern Romanian city of Galati early on Friday 29 May 2026, injuring two people in what Bucharest described as the most serious violation of its airspace since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The incident, on the territory of a NATO and European Union member state, has sharply intensified fears that the war is spilling across the alliance’s eastern flank.

What happened

The Romanian Defence Ministry said the drone — identified as a Geran-2, the Russian-built version of the Iranian-designed Shahed — was tracked by radar in Romanian airspace before crashing onto the roof of a residential building in Galati, near the Ukrainian border. The impact caused an explosion and fire; two residents suffered minor injuries and several others were evacuated. The drone was part of an overnight Russian attack on Ukrainian port and infrastructure targets across the Danube.

A grim first

Romania has recovered Russian drone fragments on its soil repeatedly since 2022, including at Galati in April 2026, but no one had previously been hurt. The Defence Ministry said it was the 28th time Russian drones had breached Romanian airspace since Moscow began striking Ukrainian Danube ports.

Bucharest’s response

President Nicusor Dan ordered the closure of the Russian consulate in the Black Sea port of Constanta and declared the Russian consul persona non grata, while the Foreign Ministry summoned Moscow’s ambassador and called the drone’s flight a serious breach of international law. Romania asked NATO to accelerate the transfer of anti-drone capabilities to its armed forces. A stand-in commander of the joint staff, General Gheorghe Maxim, stressed the episode was not a deliberate attack on Romania, while warning that Russia remains a threat to regional security.

Allied condemnation

France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot summoned the Russian ambassador in Paris and condemned what he called an attack on „a friendly country, an EU and NATO member.” UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer called the incident a serious violation of NATO airspace. The Kremlin said President Vladimir Putin was aware of the incident, while suggesting its origin could not be established — a claim Romanian and Western officials reject.

Part of a wider pattern

The strike adds to a run of incursions unsettling NATO’s eastern members. Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia and Finland have reported repeated airspace violations in recent months, and drone incursions contributed to a government collapse in Latvia earlier in May. In September 2025, NATO jets shot down Russian drones over Polish airspace. Romania, which shares a roughly 650-kilometre border with Ukraine, amended its law in 2025 to permit shooting down drones in its airspace — a power that has so far gone unused.

The stakes for the alliance

For Brussels and NATO, the Galati strike is a test of air-defence posture on the eastern flank and of the threshold for response, while raising urgent questions in Bucharest about protecting civilians living close to the front. With the Middle East energy shock already straining European economies, a widening of the war into NATO territory is precisely the escalation EU capitals have sought to avoid.