Romania denies the overflight of two Russian missiles on its territory
According to the Ukrainian army, two missiles first flew over southern Ukraine before entering Moldova, then Romania in the west before re-entering Ukrainian airspace in the north this Friday, February 10 .
(Illustrative image) © AP
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The head of the Ukrainian army said that two Russian cruise missiles flew over Romania, a NATO member country, as well as Moldova on Friday morning, February 10, before entering Ukraine.
Bucharest denied the overflight of its airspace shortly after.
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Two projectiles fired "
from the Black Sea
" "
crossed Romanian airspace at approximately 08:33 UT
" before entering Ukrainian airspace, said in a press release the commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian army, Valery Zalouzhny .
"
The reports of a Russian missile having flown over Romanian airspace are not confirmed
," reacted the Romanian Ministry of Defense.
In reaction to these statements by the head of the Ukrainian army, Bucharest reacted.
“
The aerial surveillance system detected a projectile fired from a Russian boat located in the Black Sea
” in the direction of Ukraine, the Ministry of Defense said in a press release.
"
But at no time did it enter Romanian airspace
."
For its part, Moldova confirmed that a missile had crossed its airspace and will summon the Russian ambassador.
This decision aims to protest "
against the unacceptable violation of our airspace by a Russian missile
", according to a press release.
Moldova had previously summoned the ambassador after a similar incident in October 2022. Debris was also found on Moldovan soil on several occasions.
"
The missile attacks against the neighboring country directly affect our country
", denounced the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, expressing its "
firm rejection of recent hostile statements and actions
".
If confirmed, this would be the first violation of Romania's airspace by Russian missiles since Moscow's invasion of neighboring Ukraine began.
The trajectory of the missiles is technically possible if they were fired from the Black Sea where the Russian army has a large fleet.
Earlier, Ukraine reported a "
massive
" Russian explosive missile and drone attack on its energy infrastructure.
The Romanian Defense Minister denies that a Russian missile passed through the country's airspace.
The press release confirms that this missile did, however, cross the territory of neighboring Moldova.
https://t.co/Kq417UHFcH
– Loup Bureau (@LoupBureau) February 10, 2023
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To read also: Zelensky leaves Brussels with promises of support but no planes yet
(
With
AFP)
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