A sea drone destroyed by the Romanian military using onboard cannon fire from a Romanian F-16 near the Neptun Deep gas platform in the Black Sea was not Ukrainian, Romania’s Defense Ministry said.
"Through a recently established direct communication channel with the Ukrainian side, we received official confirmation that it is not of Ukrainian origin," the ministry said on Facebook.
The ministry explained that the coast guard detected the drone a few hundred meters from the site of gas extraction operations at the Neptun Deep platform, in the exclusive economic zone, 80 miles east of Constanta.
"An operational headquarters was set up at the Defense Ministry, which asked NATO to hand over command to the Romanian military. Following analysis and in coordination with Romania’s president, a decision was made to destroy the drone in order to protect the lives of several hundred people working on the platform and to ensure the security of critical infrastructure," the ministry explained.
Two Romanian F-16 fighter jets were scrambled to respond, with orders to open fire. The drone was safely destroyed.
