Romanian Defence Ministry: The Russian missile never crossed Romanian airspace

The Romanian Defence Ministry said in a statement on Friday that the Russian missile had „at no time” crossed Romanian airspace. The remarks come after Ukrainian Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief Valery Zalujnii said Russian Kalibr missiles had allegedly crossed Romanian airspace on the border with Moldova and Ukraine.

„The air surveillance system of the Romanian Air Force detected on Friday, February 10, an aerial target launched from the Black Sea from a ship of the Russian Federation near the Crimean Peninsula, most likely a cruise missile, which evolved in the airspace of Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova and re-entered Ukrainian airspace without crossing, at any time, the airspace of Romania,” the Defense Ministry statement said.

According to the source, „the closest point of the target’s trajectory to the Romanian airspace was recorded by radar systems at about 35 kilometres northeast of the border”.

The Romanian authorities have applied all standard procedures from the moment the target was detected and until the situation has been fully clarified.

In addition, at 10.38 am, two MiG-21 LanceR aircraft of the Romanian Air Force of the NATO-led Air Police combat service, which were on an exercise flight at the time, were diverted to the northern part of Romania to supplement the response options.