BUCHAREST, Aug 20 (Reuters) - Romania scrambled F-16 fighter jets to destroy a marine drone spotted a few hundred metres from the Black Sea gas project Neptun Deep, Defence Minister Radu Miruta said on Thursday.
The incident underscores the growing threat to critical energy infrastructure in the Black Sea from drones and mines linked to Russia's war in Ukraine, with Neptun Deep expected to make Romania the European Union's largest gas producer when it comes onstream in 2027.
NATO-member Romania shares a 614-km (382-mile) land border with Ukraine and has seen Russian drones breaching its airspace over the last four years and mines floating in the Black Sea across key trade and energy routes.
Thursday's incident follows similar action earlier this month when army divers destroyed two Gerbera-type drones drifting in the exclusive economic zone near the offshore Neptun Deep project.
"In order to protect the lives of the several hundred people working on the platform and to secure critical infrastructure, the decision was made to destroy (the marine drone)," Miruta said in a Facebook post on Thursday.
#neptun #ukraine #destroy
The incident underscores the growing threat to critical energy infrastructure in the Black Sea from drones and mines linked to Russia's war in Ukraine, with Neptun Deep expected to make Romania the European Union's largest gas producer when it comes onstream in 2027.
NATO-member Romania shares a 614-km (382-mile) land border with Ukraine and has seen Russian drones breaching its airspace over the last four years and mines floating in the Black Sea across key trade and energy routes.
Thursday's incident follows similar action earlier this month when army divers destroyed two Gerbera-type drones drifting in the exclusive economic zone near the offshore Neptun Deep project.
"In order to protect the lives of the several hundred people working on the platform and to secure critical infrastructure, the decision was made to destroy (the marine drone)," Miruta said in a Facebook post on Thursday.
#neptun #ukraine #destroy
2 months ago
