FILE PHOTO-Romania's Defence Minister Angel Tilvar delivers a speech during the First Black Sea Security Conference under the aegis of the International Crimea Platform, in Bucharest, Romania, April 13, 2023. Inquam Photos/Octav Ganea via REUTERS/File Photo
(Reuters) - Parts of what could be a Russian drone fell on Romanian territory, Romania's Defence Minister Angel Tilvar said on Wednesday, two days after Ukraine said Russian drones had detonated on the NATO member's land.
Romanian officials had earlier denied reports of drones falling on Romanian territory and said Russian attacks in neighbouring Ukraine did not cause a direct threat.
On Wednesday, Romanian President Klaus Iohannis said confirmation of the discovered parts belonging to a Russian drone would be a serious violation.
"I confirm that pieces which might be the elements of a drone were found," Tilvar told Antenna 3 CNN broadcaster.
He said the area had not been evacuated because there was nothing to suggest that the parts posed a threat and said the pieces would be analysed to confirm their origin.
Kyiv had said on Monday that drones detonated in Romania during an overnight Russian air strike on a Ukrainian port across the Danube River, where attacks have increased since July, when Moscow abandoned a deal that lifted a de facto Russian blockade of Ukraine's Black Sea ports.
Speaking in Bucharest on Wednesday at the start of a summit of the presidents of Three Seas Initiative countries, Iohannis said the attacks were war crimes happening a "small distance" from Romania's border.
"If it is confirmed that the components (found) belong to a Russian drone, such a situation would be inadmissible and a serious violation of Romania's sovereignty and territorial integrity," he said.
"We are on alert and in constant contact with our NATO allies," he added.
Tilvar reiterated there was no direct threat and told Agerpres it was possible the drone did not explode upon impact but rather it simply fell or pieces landed on Romanian territory.
"(That) does not make us happy, (...) but I don't think that we can talk about an attack and, as I said before, I think we need to know how to distinguish between an act of aggression and an incident," Agerpres quoted him as saying.
A ministry spokesperson said search teams had been in the area for several days while the minister and other defense officials talked to residents.
Moscow has conducted long-range air strikes on targets in Ukraine since the start of the war last year, and Ukraine has reported suspected Russian weapons flying over or crashing into neighbours several times.
In the most serious incident, two people were killed in Poland by a missile that fell near the border last November; Poland and NATO allies later said it was a misfired Ukrainian air defence missile.
(Reporting by Alan Charlish, Luiza Ilie and Jason Hovet, Editing by Alexandra Hudson and Angus MacSwan)
