Romania, Poland scramble aircraft as drones strike Ukraine

KYIV:

Romania became the latest NATO member state to report a drone incursion into its airspace Saturday, as Poland scrambled aircraft in response to fresh Russian drone strikes just over the border in Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned that Russia was deliberately expanding its drone operations and that the West needed to respond with tougher sanctions and closer defence cooperation.

In Washington, US President Donald Trump said he was ready to impose major sanctions on Russia -- just as soon as all NATO nations did the same thing and stopped buying Russian oil.

Romania's defence ministry said Saturday that the country's airspace had been breached by a drone during a Russian attack on infrastructure in neighbouring Ukraine.

The country scrambled two F-16 fighter jets late on Saturday to monitor the situation following the strikes, said a defence ministry statement.

The jets "detected a drone in national airspace" and tracked it until "it disappeared from the radar" near the Romanian village of Chilia Veche, it added.

Also Saturday, Poland said it and its NATO allies had deployed helicopters and aircraft as Russian drones struck Ukraine not far from its border.

Because of the drone threat, "Polish and allied aircraft are operating in our airspace, and ground-based air defence and radar reconnaissance systems have reached their highest level of alert," the country's military command posted in a statement on X.

Later Saturday, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced that the high alert had been lifted, while cautioning: "We remain vigilant."

Zelensky's warning

Poland and its fellow NATO countries have been on their guard since Warsaw said nearly 20 Russian drones entered its airspace overnight Tuesday to Wednesday.

While Russia denies targeting Poland, several European countries including France, Germany and Sweden have stepped up their support for defending Polish airspace in response.