The NATO member was forced to scramble planes following an onslaught that was so intense it caused an explosion visible from a river across the Romanian-Ukraine border
NATO was forced to scramble F-16 war planes after Vladimir Putin launched an attack on Ukraine that caused explosive nearly border-hopping damage.
The Russian despot’s forces bombed a gas compressor station only half a mile from NATO member Romania’s territory last night, causing a giant fireball to surge into the skies that was visible across the Danube River. The drone strike obliterated oil and gas pipelines at the Orlivka plant in Odesa.
Dramatic photos showed the orange flames lighting up the night and reflecting off the waters of the Danube as Romanian authorities scrambled two F-16 warplanes. It comes after NATO scrambled warplanes as Russia shoots down West’s F-16 fighter jet in Ukraine onslaught.
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The Romanian Ministry of National Defense (MApN) confirmed the “massive” attack took place near the Romanian border, with its radar systems detecting the attacks and warning residents early in the morning at around 1.10am.
A spokesperson for the ministry condemned what they said were Putin’s “aggressive and unjustified actions”, adding they “defy international law and endanger regional security”. They said: “On the night of August 5-6, Russian forces launched a massive drone attack on civilian infrastructure in the Ismail area, Ukraine, near the Romanian border.”
“The radar systems of the MApN detected air targets in Ukrainian space, close to Tulcea County. At 01:10, the population in the north of the county was warned via RO-Alert [the country’s official emergency warning system].
“Two Romanian F-16 fighter jets took off to monitor the national airspace, without any unauthorised intrusions being detected. The MApN will carry out checks in the area, and NATO allies are informed in real time. The Ministry of National Defence firmly condemns these aggressive and unjustified actions of the Russian Federation, which flagrantly defy international law and endanger regional security.”
The move to scramble the jets comes not long after NATO was forced to respond to a Russian attack in which 500 missiles were used to down an F-16 fighter jet.
A Ukrainian F-16 supersonic fighter, which was supplied to the country’s fighting forces by western allies, was shot down last week in an attack that resulted in the loss of “hero” pilot Lt-Col Maksym Ustimenko. The pilot, who was born in 1993, managed to shoot down seven air targets using all his weapons before he was hit.
Poland’s operational command announced that NATO fighters were scrambled because of the intensity of Russian onslaught on Ukraine.