Romania expels Russian embassy employee after drone incidents
Romania has expelled a Russian embassy employee following multiple drone incidents, including the downing of three drones and a new incursion.
Romania's Foreign Ministry summoned Russia's ambassador Vladimir Lipayev on Monday to inform him of the decision to expel a Russian embassy employee, declaring the individual persona non grata. The employee must leave the country within five days.
The move comes after three consecutive days of drone downings last week. An F-16 fighter jet shot down the first drone on Friday, and fragments were shown to the ambassador. An investigation confirmed it was a Russian-made Shahed drone. The origins of two other drones shot down on Saturday and Sunday are still under investigation. However, a senior NATO military official stated on Sunday that one appears to be of Russian origin.
On Monday, another drone briefly entered Romanian airspace. Since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, drones have entered Romanian airspace dozens of times, with several crashing on Romanian territory. In May, two people were injured when a drone struck an apartment building in Galati, near the border with Ukraine.
