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Romania is the latest Nato member state to report a drone incursion into its airspace after Poland scrambled aircraft in response to fresh Russian drone strikes just over the border in Ukraine.
Rafale fighter jets were deployed in Poland after an unprecedented intrusion by Russian drones into the country's airspace. Photo / Etat Major des Armees / AFP
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned that Russia was deliberately expanding its drone operations and that the West neededto respond with tougher sanctions and closer defence cooperation.
In Washington, US President Donald Trump said he was ready to impose major sanctions on Russia - as soon as all Nato nations did the same thing and stopped buying Russian oil.
Romania’s defence ministry said on Saturday (local time) that the country’s airspace had been breached by a drone during a Russian attack on infrastructure in neighbouring Ukraine.
The country scrambled two F-16 fighter jets late on Saturday to monitor the situation after the strikes, said the defence ministry.
The jets “detected a drone in national airspace” and tracked it until “it disappeared from the radar” near the Romanian village of Chilia Veche, it added.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accuses Russia of expanding the war via its drone incursions into other nations' airspace. Photo / Getty Images
Also Saturday, Poland said it and its Nato allies had deployed helicopters and aircraft as Russian drones struck Ukraine not far from its border.
Because of the drone threat, “Polish and allied aircraft are operating in our airspace, and ground-based air defence and radar reconnaissance systems have reached their highest level of alert,” the country’s military command posted on X.
Later Saturday, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced that the high alert had been lifted, while cautioning: “We remain vigilant”.
Zelenskyy’s warning
Poland and its fellow Nato countries have been on their guard since Warsaw said nearly 20 Russian drones entered its airspace overnight Tuesday to Wednesday.
While Russia denies targeting Poland, several European countries including France, Germany and Sweden have stepped up their support for defending Polish airspace in response.
“The Russian military knows exactly where their drones are headed and how long they can operate in the air,” said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The latest drone incursions were “an obvious expansion of the war by Russia”, he added.
Fresh sanctions against Russia and a collective defence system were needed in response, Zelenskyy argued.
“Do not wait for dozens of ‘shaheds’ and ballistic missiles before finally making decisions,” he warned, referring to the Iranian-designed Shahed drones Russia is using.
‘Stop buying Russian oil’
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said if the incursion into Polish airspace turned out to have been deliberate, “then obviously it will be... highly escalatory”.
Trump’s suggestion on Thursday that the incursion might have happened by “mistake”, was quickly dismissed by Tusk.
On Saturday, Trump returned to the issue of sanctions against Russia.
“I am ready to do major Sanctions on Russia when all NATO Nations have agreed, and started, to do the same thing, and when all NATO Nations STOP BUYING OIL FROM RUSSIA,” he said in a post on his Truth Social platform.
Trump has repeatedly threatened sanctions against Russia without following through.
In Russia, an official reported that a Ukrainian drone had hit one of its largest oil refining complexes, 1400 kilometres from the front line in Ukraine.
The drone had sparked a fire and caused minor damage at the complex, which belongs to Russian oil company Bashneft, and lies on the outskirts of the central Russian city of Ufa.
A source in Ukraine’s GUR military intelligence agency claimed responsibility for the attack.
Since Moscow launched its full-scale military offensive in Ukraine in February 2022, Kyiv has responded with attacks on Russian refineries in an attempt to curb the Kremlin’s ability to fund the conflict through its fossil fuel industry.
