During the night of October 6, Romanian radar systems detected two aerial targets in Ukrainian airspace near the border with Romania. Two Spanish F-18 fighter jets conducting an Enhanced Air Policing mission as part of NATO were scrambled to monitor the situation. No violation of Romanian airspace was recorded.

 

During the night of October 5–6, the radar surveillance system of Romania’s Ministry of National Defence detected two aerial targets in Ukrainian airspace near the river border with Romania. The Romanian Ministry of National Defence reported the incident.

In response, two F-18 fighter jets of the Spanish Air and Space Force were scrambled from the 57th Mihail Kogălniceanu Air Base. The aircraft are currently conducting Enhanced Air Policing duties in Romania and were deployed to monitor the air situation in the border area.

Romania’s National Military Command Centre notified the General Inspectorate for Emergency Situations about the need to activate public warning measures. At 2:20 a.m. local time, an RO-Alert message was sent to residents in the northern and eastern parts of Tulcea County.

Romanian military authorities stressed that no penetration of Romanian national airspace by the detected aerial targets was recorded. The alert was lifted at 3:14 a.m.

The latest episode is another case in which Romania has activated its air-policing capabilities to monitor the situation near the Ukrainian border. The previous night, October 4–5, Romanian radars also detected an aerial target east of the Ukrainian town of Vylkove. Two Spanish F-18s were scrambled from Mihail Kogălniceanu Air Base, while an RO-Alert warning was issued to residents in the northern part of Tulcea County. No violation of Romanian airspace was recorded in that case either.

According to Romania’s Ministry of National Defence, as of October 6, 2026, 153 incidents involving attacks near the Romanian border had been recorded since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, with aircraft scrambled in 103 cases. In 49 cases, aerial objects were reported to have unlawfully entered Romanian national airspace or territorial waters, while four drones were shot down. In 2026 alone, the Romanian military has recorded 86 attacks near the border and 68 instances in which aircraft were scrambled.

 

Romania is one of the key states on NATO’s eastern flank and also controls a significant section of the Alliance’s western Black Sea coastline. As a result, the air situation around the Ukrainian section of the Danube Delta is directly linked to efforts to protect Romanian and allied airspace.

The Spanish F-18s are performing both a national and an allied role. Their deployment at Mihail Kogălniceanu Air Base is part of NATO’s Enhanced Air Policing mechanism, which is designed to strengthen the Alliance’s capabilities to monitor and protect the airspace of its eastern flank.

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07.10.2026 08:52