- A Ukrainian naval drone went out of control due to Russian interference.
- The first report of finding a drone in the port of Constanţa came by surprise.
- The drone exploded spontaneously, the area was previously evacuated.
The Ukrainian Navy confirmed on Friday that one of its naval drones exploded in the port of the Romanian city of Constanta after being thrown off course by the deployment of electronic warfare by the Russian military. TASR informs about it with reference to the AFP agency.
“While performing tasks in the Black Sea operational area, one of the unmanned surface vessels of the Ukrainian Navy came under the influence of the enemy’s electronic warfare systems, went out of control and headed towards the coast of Romania. The Ukrainian Navy provided the necessary information to the Romanian Navy to avoid civilian casualties.” it is stated in the statement of the Ukrainian Navy published on Facebook.
The Deputy Minister of the Interior of Romania, Raed Arafat, said at a press conference earlier that the report about the drone being found in the port came already at 06:00. local time (05:00 CEST). The Ministry of Defense later clarified that they received the notification at 06:20.
According to the Ministry of Defense, the drone was found in a port near the headquarters of the Romanian Agency for the Rescue of Human Lives at Sea (ARSVOM) and spontaneously exploded at approximately 10:30 a.m. local time (09:30 CEST). It happened at a time when the authorities were assessing the object. The area was then evacuated and secured. According to the Prefect of the Constanța County, Adriano-Teodoro Picoiua, the explosion was also felt in the seaside resort of Navodari, approximately 20 kilometers away.
The Russian embassy in Bucharest issued a statement saying the naval drone was Ukrainian and that “any attempts to directly or indirectly link this drone to Russia and attribute responsibility for the incident to it are unfounded.”
Romanian President Nicušor Dan described the incident as a consequence of the war that Russia has unleashed in Ukraine. According to Digi 24 TV, the Prosecutor’s Office in Konstanz has started proceedings regarding the presence of an unmarked military vessel with weapons on board and probably also explosives in the civilian port.
