A Russian drone penetrated approximately 10 kilometers into Romanian airspace and operated there for about 50 minutes on September 13th, 2025, prompting Romania to scramble combat aircraft. The drone's presence led authorities in northern Romania's Tulcea County to issue a RO-ALERT message on Saturday afternoon, warning residents of the possibility of falling objects from the aerial space and urging protective measures. Poland also responded militarily to the threat of Russian attack drones during this period. These events occurred as Russian drones were reportedly active in various regions of Ukraine throughout the day, including northern areas along the border with Belarus. Preliminary information suggests Belarusian airspace may have been used for entry into Ukraine's airspace toward Volyn. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that the calculated routes of Russian drones indicate an "obvious expansion of the war by Russia." In a separate but related development, an online campaign is underway in Poland, with millions of views, exposing accounts spreading Russian propaganda using the hashtag #polskieonuce. Meanwhile, since President Donald Trump took office, Russia has significantly increased its aerial attacks against Ukraine, launching 6,300 drones in July 2025 alone, a substantial rise from 426 a year prior, according to the WSJ. Earlier in the reporting window, between 4:47 PM UTC and 5:17 PM UTC, Romania's Air Force had intercepted the Russian drone, which disappeared from radar while being tracked by F-16 fighter jets scrambled from Fetești Air Base. The drone was tracked until approximately 20 km southwest of Chilia Veche, where it crashed, according to the Romanian Ministry of Defense. This followed earlier air raid warnings in Poland's Lubelskie Voivodeship and RO-Alert messages in northern Romania's Tulcea County between 4:02 PM UTC and 4:16 PM UTC on September 13th, 2025, due to threats of aerial attack. Polish and allied aviation operations in Polish airspace concluded by 4:46 PM UTC.
