Several drones, believed to be of Russian origin, entered the airspace of Romania and Moldova on November 25, with some falling without causing casualties, officials from the two countries said. 

One drone struck a building in Moldova, where similar incursions have been more provocative than those over Romania, which usually involve flights over uninhabited areas.

The Romanian Ministry of Defence said it sent up jet fighters twice, at around 6:30 and 7:30 in the morning, after systems detected foreign drones crossing into the national territory, a ministry statement said. 

Moșteanu announced at around 11:30 that one drone had fallen in the Puiesti area of Vaslui County, and said the drone was “without a charge”, suggesting it did not carry explosives. 

In neighbouring Moldova, a drone marked with the “Z” symbol fell on the roof of a house in Cuhureștii de Jos, Florești district, after authorities reported a large number of drones entering Moldovan airspace the same morning.

“Following the massive attack on Ukraine, on the night of Monday to Tuesday, the airspace surveillance systems of the National Army detected, on the morning of November 25, 2025, six drones that were crossing the national airspace without authorisation,” the Ministry of Defence in Chișinău. 

It added that: “five other drones were observed by the airspace surveillance systems of the National Army, crossing the airspace of the localities of Dondușeni, Orhei, Bender, Vadul lui Vodă and Florești. One of these fell on the roof of a house in the village of Cuhureștii de Jos, Florești district.”

Response questioned 

The event prompted public comments about Romania's response to the repeated intrusion of Russian drones on the national territory. After the legislation and procedures had reportedly been ironed out over the past year, the technical response capacity came into question this time.

Romanian Minister of Defence Ionuț Moșteanu said in the morning that he "wished the drone that landed in the backyard of a resident in Vaslui County had been taken down", Digi24 reported on November 25. The drone supposedly spent several hours in Romanian airspace, assuming it was one of the drones spotted entering national airspace in the morning. 

Moșteanu, appointed by the reformist Save Romania Union in June despite his lack of experience or expertise related to defence, spoke shortly after attending Thanksgiving celebrations with United States officers at the Mihail Kogălniceanu base on the Black Sea coast. 

“General Christopher Donahue came today to be with American soldiers at Mihail Kogălniceanu base to celebrate Thanksgiving; they invited us too,” he said.

The minister said he cut short his visit and returned to Bucharest to coordinate the response. He added that pilots had permission to engage the drones but chose not to fire. 

“Very likely, analysing the potential collateral damage they could cause by firing weapons over Romanian territory, they chose not to engage,” he said.

Moșteanu highlighted cooperation with the United States. “General Donahue will tell you about a new anti-aircraft capability that will enter operational service with the Romanian Army soon and will give us an increased ability to shoot down these drones,” he said.