Sea drone in the port of Constanta
The incident on Friday when a sea drone exploded in the Romanian Black Sea port of Constanța took place against the background of a shortage in a new military technology, which appeared with the war in Ukraine, president Nicusor Dan says
Mihai Pelin, 08.06.2026, 14:00
A sea drone self-destroyed without making victims in the Black Sea port of Constanta, south-eastern Romania at the end of last week. The Department for Emergency Situations activated the Emergency Red Plan for an effective situation management and several thousand people have been evacuated from the area. Kyiv confirmed it was a Ukrainian drone, which was misguided by Russia’s electronic anti-drone systems. The incident took place against the shortage of military equipment, Romania’s President, Nicusor Dan, said at the end of a session over the incident with top army officials in Constanta.
He confirmed the sea drone was Ukrainian, but pointed out that the responsibility for the incident belongs to Russia. The head of the Romanian state says the authorities intervened in time observing the right procedures for situations of this kind and no victims were reported.
He has pledged the Ministries of Defence and the Interior will step up recon and search missions during summer so that the Romanian seaside resorts stay safe.
The President says he will be having talks with his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky as a protocol between the two states is needed to regulate such incidents.
The conclusion is that the state institutions have applied the right measures and intervened with the equipment they had. The President explains that a sea drone goes under the radars currently fitting the armed forces. And the conclusion is Romania has to adjust to the new technologies, which appeared with the war in Ukraine.
Nicuşor Dan:” This is a new technology developed in the context of this new war and just like in the case of the air drones, we are adjusting to the technology this war has brought along. We are actually in a process, of procuring the right equipment for the navy as well. New equipment is going to arrive in Romania next month. A couple of weeks ago, Romania’s navy participated in a NATO exercise devoted to this type of threat. So, we are in the process of adjusting to a new technology.”
In turn, Defence Minister, Radu Miruţă, says the Ukrainian forces didn’t communicate the drone’s trajectory. He held talks with his Ukrainian counterpart and conveyed Romania’s firm expectation to be informed as soon as possible about situations like these, or on similar security incidents.
(bill)
