Marine Drone Detonates at Romania’s Black Sea Port of Constanta
Incident Overview and Security Response
Details of the Marine Drone Explosion
BUCHAREST, June 5 (Reuters) - A marine drone of the type used in the war in neighbouring Ukraine self-detonated on Friday in Romania's Black Sea port of Constanta near an oil terminal, without causing any casualties, the defence ministry said.
Evacuation Measures and Public Safety
Immediate Response by Authorities
The port was being evacuated, residents along Romania's Black Sea coast were warned to take cover, and two helicopters were surveying the area for any further drones, deputy Interior Minister Raed Arafat said.
Statements from Officials
"We now know there is the risk of self-detonation, we have ... evacuated in case there are more drones," Arafat said.
"We are not panicking, the measures are purely preventative."
Context: Previous Drone Incidents and Regional Security
Recent Drone Crash in Galati
The explosion comes a week after a Russian drone crashed into an apartment building in the southeastern Romanian city of Galati, near the border with Ukraine, injuring two people - the first time in the Russia-Ukraine war that a drone struck a densely populated area in a NATO state.
Romania’s Border Security and Airspace Incursions
Romania, a NATO and European Union member, shares a 650-km (400-mile) border with Ukraine and has reported 28 incursions into its airspace by Russian drones since Moscow began attacking Ukrainian ports on the Danube, the defence ministry has said.
Ukrainian drone fragments have also landed on Romanian territory.
(Reporting by Luiza Ilie. Editing by Mark Potter)
