VOLODYMYR Zelensky has warned Vladimir Putin’s latest drone incursion into another Nato country is an “obvious expansion of war”.
The nailbiting escalation came as Russia breached Romanian airspace during another attack on Ukraine – forcing Nato to scramble fighter jets.
Nato has been forced to scramble its F-16 fighter jets after a Russian attack breached Romanian airspace[/caption]
Russia has continued to launch attacks on Ukraine[/caption]
Volodymyr Zelensky branded Vladimir Putin’s latest breach an ‘expansion of war’[/caption]
It comes after Putin flew drones into Polish airspace on Wednesday, forcing Warsaw to shoot them down and trigger Nato’s Article 4 – one below the threshold of war.
The unprecedented move marked the first time a member of the defence alliance fired a shot since the start of Russia‘s invasion of Ukraine.
On Saturday, Romania‘s defence ministry confirmed a drone had entered across their border after Moscow launched an onslaught on neighbouring Ukraine.
War hero Zelensky said the incursion was not be a mistake – and warned the West the move was “an obvious expansion of the war by Russia“.
Bucharest scrambled two F-16s late to monitor the situation following the strikes, and condemned the breach as a “new challenge” to Black Sea security.
The defence ministry said they “detected a drone in national airspace” and tracked it until it disappeared from the radar near the Romanian village of Chilia Veche.
They added: “Such incidents demonstrate the Russian Federation’s lack of respect for international law.”
Nato acted swiftly after the group vowed to defend “every inch” of allied land earlier this week.
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas called the Russian action a “reckless” threat to security.
She said: “The violation of Romanian airspace by Russian drones is yet another unacceptable breach of an EU member state’s sovereignty.
“This continued reckless escalation threatens regional security. We stand in solidarity with Romania.”
After the Polish incursion, Prime Minister Donald Tusk said 19 Russian drones sailed across the border amid a strike against western Ukraine, taking his country to the “closest to conflict since WW2”.
He said four were shot down by Nato fighter jets – understood to be from Poland, Italy, the Netherland the US – and officials later said seven had been found on the ground.
Although this marked the first time since the outbreak of war that Nato has directly clashed with Russia, jets have been scrambled many times without engaging.
Kremlin spokespeople have denied there is any evidence the drones were Russian, and even outrageously implied they had been launched by Kyiv.
Yvette Cooper meeting Volodymyr Zelensky, who warned Russia’s incursion into Romania was an ‘expansion of war’[/caption]
Poland also claimed again on Saturday that it had deployed helicopters and aircraft to combat Russian drones close to the border.
The country’s military announced on X they were on their “highest level of alert” alongside allied aircraft.
Tusk later confirmed the alert had been lifted but cautioned: “We must remain vigilant”.
He urged Nato: “Do not wait for dozens of shaheds [drones] and ballistic missiles before finally making decisions.”
Reacting to Russia’s continued aggression and threats towards Nato, US President Donald Trump vowed to “do major sanctions on Russia”.
He said on Truth Social he would punish Putin on the condition that all Nato countries agree to stop buying oil from the tyrant’s regime.
Promising he was steadfast in his commitment to end the war in Ukraine, Trump added: “I am ready to ‘go’ when you are. Just say when?”
And he also called on Nato to impose sanctions on China, emphasising that Xi Jinping was funding Putin’s war machine.
Firefighters working at the sit of a Russian strike in Ukraine on Friday[/caption]
