A Russian drone crashed into an apartment building in Romania early Friday, because apparently the war in Ukraine needed a new real estate development angle. The Romanian defence ministry confirmed the strike in the eastern city of Galati, noting it caused a fire and injured two people - making them the first Romanian citizens to be personally acquainted with Russia's aerial navigation skills during the four-year conflict.
The drone's entire explosive payload detonated on the 10th floor, according to the Romanian General Inspectorate for Emergency Situations, because subtlety has never been Moscow's strong suit. Russia has yet to comment, which is probably for the best - their press releases tend to blame NATO anyway.
Romania's foreign ministry called it "a serious and irresponsible escalation," which is diplomatic code for "we're really, really annoyed." Bucharest has informed the NATO secretary general and requested measures to accelerate anti-drone capabilities - presumably because living in a country that shares a border with a war zone is stressful enough without exploding house guests.
Two people were treated for abrasions, and about 70 residents were evacuated as firefighters dealt with the blaze - a modest but unwelcome shift from the usual drone-related property damage that had previously only dented buildings, not people. NATO scrambled two F-16s after detecting the drones, because nothing says "we're watching" like fighter jets arriving after the fact.
Romania's defence ministry notes that since the war began in February 2022, drone fragments have been found on Romanian territory 47 times - 12 of them this year alone. That's a lot of uninvited metal souvenirs. Meanwhile, Ukraine issued a nationwide air raid alert, and in the Russian-controlled Donetsk region, three utility workers were killed by a Ukrainian drone attack - because the war spares no one, not even the guys fixing the power lines.