Romania downs explosive-laden drone near Black Sea gas platform; EU calls it ‘hybrid war’

A Romanian F-16 destroyed a naval drone carrying explosives near a Black Sea gas platform Thursday, an incident the European Commission's president described as part of a widening campaign to intimidate and divide the European Union.

A marine drone, which Romanian Defence Minister Radu Miruta said was destroyed by F-16 fighter jets as it headed toward Romania's exclusive economic zone in the Black Sea near the Neptun Deep offshore gas project, is seen in this handout image obtained by Reuters on August 20, 2026.

Radu Miruta via Facebook/Handout via REUTERS

The drone was found drifting a few hundred meters from the Neptun Deep gas platform, roughly 80 kilometers off the port of Constanta, Romanian Defense Minister Radu Miruta said. He said it did not originate in Ukraine and was destroyed by cannon fire from the fighter jet to protect several hundred workers in the area and safeguard critical infrastructure. Army divers were later dispatched to confirm the threat had been cleared.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen linked the strike to a broader pattern of provocations against the bloc. "An intimidation campaign is intensifying, which is unsettling our citizens and aims to divide the Union", she wrote online. "This is hybrid war".

Thursday's incident was the second such episode near Neptun Deep in a week. Romania's Defense Ministry said last week that military divers had destroyed two Russian-made Gerbera drones found drifting in the country's exclusive economic zone, about 165 kilometers from Constanta.

Romanian officials say drones — most of them Russian — have repeatedly entered the country's airspace and territorial waters as Moscow continues to strike Ukrainian ports on the Black Sea.

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Source: PAP