The detonation of a drone causes a large explosion in a port in Romania
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".
BarcelonaA naval drone detonated this Friday in the Romanian port of Constanta, in 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, 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 coastal city's port.
The explosion took place at 10:28 a.m., at berth 78 of the port of Constanta, as reported by the Romanian Deputy Minister of the Interior, Raed Arafat. Hours earlier, around 6 a.m., Romanian authorities reportedly received a warning from Ukrainian authorities that there was a drone in the port and gave the order to evacuate it. They also warned residents of the Romanian Black Sea coast to take cover while two helicopters inspected the area to detect more drones. "Now we know there is a risk of self-detonation, and we have decided to evacuate in case there are more drones," warned Arafat, who clarified that "the measures are purely preventive" and detailed that the device that detonated is not part of the Romanian army's fleet.
In fact, it was a Ukrainian drone. According to the Ukrainian navy, it was on a mission in the Black Sea when the Kyiv authorities lost control of it as a result of "Russian electronic warfare" 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 has notified Romania that the maritime drone in question was part of a batch of five. A second one would have exploded in Ukraine and the other three are reportedly being searched for, according to the prefect of Constanța County, Adrian Teodor Picoiu. The version reported by the Romanian media 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.
Military Studies expert Pol Molas assures that these types of devices are very common in the Black Sea and that both Ukrainian and Russian forces use them recurrently to damage enemy ports or vessels. In this specific case, he confirms that the possibility that the drone was intercepted is plausible, although it could also have been an electronic or mechanical failure. Since the Black Sea currents are counter-clockwise, Molas hypothesizes that the device had departed from the southern coast of Ukraine and, upon being intercepted, traveled to Romania. Like aerial drones, naval drones also travel in swarms and have a system that causes them to self-detonate automatically when they deviate from the planned route, he explains.
Europe attacks Moscow
The explosion occurs a week after a Russian drone crashed into an apartment building in the city of Galati, 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 had hit a densely populated area of a NATO state. However, Molas points out that both cases are "accidental incidents." "I don't think they are intentional," he adds.
Be that as it may, these kinds of episodes have become increasingly common in Ukraine's neighboring countries. 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 Danube ports.
The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, has blamed the incident on "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, highlighting the investment the Union is making in the arms sector.
For its part, Moscow has shrugged 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 baseless." "These are Ukrainian unmanned maritime vehicles, used by the Kyiv regime to commit terrorist acts against civilian ships and create threats to navigation safety in the Black Sea," the diplomatic mission said.