Romanian border town Isaccea sees threefold jump in drone alerts

Drone alerts in the eastern Romanian border town of Isaccea have roughly tripled this year compared with all of 2025, according to data from Romania’s Ministry of National Defense. The ministry recorded 27 drone incursions into Romanian airspace so far this year, up from 9 for the whole of 2025, and 37 drones or drone debris pieces found on Romanian territory, compared with 16 last year.

For 48-year-old Robert Marian, the alerts have become a nightly occurrence. Marian lives in Isaccea, in eastern Tulcea County along the Danube River across from Ukraine. “There are alerts warning us that something is coming,” he told The Associated Press. “It happened two weeks ago, maybe three. I was asleep at midnight … One was quieter, but another was really loud. I got scared and ran out of the house.”

The Romanian defense ministry said there have been 73 attacks near the border on Ukrainian territory this year and that some 56 military aircraft have been scrambled to “monitor and manage the situation.” Last year, there were 28 attacks near the border and 21 aircraft were raised. In the first year of the war, there was only one attack near the border.

On Sept. 1, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said a Ukrainian border crossing with Romania, the Isaccea-Orlivka crossing, was “deliberately damaged … as well as export infrastructure.” Romanian customs announced the same day that activity at the crossing had been temporarily suspended.

Isaccea resident Alina Mihail said the alerts have taken a toll. “I have so many nights where I don’t sleep anymore,” she said. “I live in terror, me and my husband.” Mihail said she and her husband stay in the house when the alerts warn of potential airspace breaches. “We have no support, no one to help us,” she said.

Romania has shot down four drones this year, the first time since the war next door started. NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said on Sept. 2 that “Russia has grown increasingly reckless” as Moscow continues its war.

“We have seen more drones and missiles crossing into our airspace, along our eastern flank, creating increased risk,” he said. “The dangers Russia poses are clear.”

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said last week that he had received information from CIA Director Jim Ratcliffe indicating Europe should be prepared for intensified Russian provocations, including on the European Union’s eastern flank.

Moscow has denied sending combat drones to Romanian territory.

Romanian Defense Minister Radu Miruta told the AP that Russia is considered a “primary, significant threat” to the eastern flank and to Romania in both the National Defense Strategy and NATO assessments. Miruta said there are over 1,000 U.S. troops in Romania, which he said is higher than it was after the U.S. troop rotation last year.

“We have a solid relationship,” he said. “The security dynamics along the eastern flank are highly fluid.”

Miruta said the ongoing threat is unique because of Russia’s frequent attacks on Ukraine’s Danube River ports, a short distance across the natural river border.

“Once the border is crossed, the distance involved is merely tens of meters, leaving very little reaction time,” he said. “In contrast, in the Nordic countries, targets are tens of kilometers away, providing a sufficiently comfortable window for various forms of intervention.”

Miruta added that Romania currently has no information suggesting a ground invasion is imminent or likely. “From this perspective, we can rest easy,” he said.

In May, a drone injured a mother and child after crashing into an apartment block in the eastern town of Galati along the Danube River. A drone that entered Romania from neighboring Moldova was tracked through several counties last week before it reentered Moldova and crashed in a sunflower field.

Romania and Poland acquired the MEROPS system, which fires short counter-drones to take down incoming stray drones. The defense ministry announced last month that it had received its first 2.5 billion euros from the EU’s Security Action for Europe program, from the total amount of 16.6 billion allocated. In June, the defense ministry said it had signed a $2 billion contract with an Israeli firm to acquire short and very-short-range air defense systems, “designed to protect against aerial threats, including drones and cruise missiles.”

Romanian President Nicusor Dan said at the Ankara summit that defense spending would reach up to 3.7% of GDP this year. He added that Romania joined NATO’s Drone Edge project, which aims to invest over $40 billion in “counter-drone capabilities” over the next five years.