The detonation of a drone causes a large explosion in a port in Romania

BarcelonaA sea drone detonated this Friday in the Romanian port of Constanta, on the Black Sea, near an oil terminal, causing a large explosion. The incident, caused by a device similar to those used in the war in Ukraine, has left no victims, according to the Ministry of Defense. Images from the scene shared on social media show a large plume of smoke rising on the horizon of the port of the coastal city.

The explosion took place at 10:28 AM, at berth 78 of the port of Constanta, according to the Romanian Deputy Minister of the Interior, Raed Arafat. Hours earlier, around 6 AM, Romanian authorities reportedly received a warning that there was a drone in the port and ordered its evacuation. They also warned residents of the Romanian Black Sea coast to take cover while two helicopters inspected the area for more drones. According to the news portal Digi24, three more drones were allegedly found. "Now we know there is a risk of self-detonation, and we have decided to evacuate in case there are more drones," Arafat warned, clarifying that "the measures are purely preventive." He also clarified that the device that detonated is not part of the Romanian army's fleet.

The Ukrainian naval drone was on a mission in the Black Sea when Kyiv authorities lost control of it as a result of "Russian electronic warfare" — as reported by the Ukrainian navy — and the device drifted to the Romanian coast. It was then that Ukraine informed the Romanian side to avoid casualties, the statement adds. Furthermore, Kyiv notified Romania that the maritime drone in question was part of a batch of five. A second one allegedly exploded in Ukraine and the other three are being searched for, according to Constanța County Prefect Adrian Teodor Picoiu. The version detailed by Digi 24 is that the device, of the Magura model used by the Ukrainian army, got stuck in an anti-pollution barrier, a few hundred meters from the port's oil terminal.

The explosion occurs a week after a Russian drone crashed into an apartment building in the city of Galați, in southeastern Romania, near the border with Ukraine, injuring two people. It was the first time in the war between Russia and Ukraine that a drone hit a densely populated area of a NATO country. Romania, a member of NATO and the European Union, shares a 650 km border with Ukraine and has reported 28 incursions into its airspace by Russian drones since Moscow began attacking Ukrainian ports on the Danube, according to the Ministry of Defense.

The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, attributed the blame for the incident to "Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine," which, she says, "is increasingly becoming a direct threat to the countries on our eastern border." "Our response must match the urgency," she stated in a message on X, in which she highlighted the investment the Union is making in the arms sector.

For its part, Moscow has shaken off responsibility, and in a message from the Russian embassy in Romania, it assured that "any attempt to directly or indirectly associate these drones with Russia and attribute responsibility for the incident to us is unfounded." "These are Ukrainian unmanned maritime vehicles, used by the Kyiv regime to commit terrorist acts against civilian vessels and to create threats to the safety of navigation in the Black Sea," said the diplomatic mission.