Ukraine says sea drone that exploded in Constanta veered off course due to electronic interference

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The Ukrainian navy has said the sea drone that exploded in the Romanian port city of Constanta on Friday morning had veered off course due to Russian electronic interference.

“While carrying out missions in the Black Sea operational zone, one of the Ukrainian Navy’s unmanned surface vessels lost control due to enemy electronic warfare measures and drifted toward the coast of Romania,” the Ukrainian navy said in a statement, adding that it had “provided the necessary information to the Romanian Navy to prevent civilian casualties”.

The Romanian Ministry of National Defence said earlier on Friday that the naval drone detonated at around 10:30 a.m. local time and that it was thought to be “of the type used in the war in Ukraine”.

“The area had already been secured and cordoned off by forces from the Romanian Intelligence Service, the Coast Guard, and the Ministry of National Defense; at that time, the object was undergoing assessment and being secured,” the ministry said.

It also confirmed that the drone was not part of the Romanian Army’s inventory and that it had not been involved in recent military exercises in the Black Sea area.

No injuries have been reported so far. An investigation into the incident is ongoing.

“The priority has been and remains the protection of human life and the security of the port infrastructure,” Romanian President Nicușor Dan wrote on X in response to the news.

“Such particularly serious situations are the direct consequences of the war of aggression unleashed by Russia against Ukraine,” he added.

Ursula von der Leyen, the president on the European Commission, has since expressed solidarity with Romania over the incident, saying Russia’s war in Ukraine was “increasingly becoming a direct threat to countries on our Eastern border”.

“Our solidarity with every Member State exposed to these threats is absolute,” she said in a statement posted on social media.

Numerous emergency responders attended the scene in Constanta on Friday, including police, border guards and firefighters. A Black Hawk helicopter was also mobilised to provide support, per Romania’s Department for Emergency Situations.

It comes after a Russian drone carrying explosives crashed in the eastern Romanian city of Galați last week, causing a fire on the roof of a residential apartment block and injuring two people.

This is a developing story. Our journalists are working on further updates.