Russia on July 25 attacked the Ukrainian Danube port of Izmayil for the second day in a row, damaging infrastructure critical for Kyiv's grain exports, while in neighboring Romania, NATO scrambled F-18 warplanes as drone debris was found near the border with Ukraine.
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Ukraine's military said its air defenses shot down 25 out of the 38 drones launched by Russia at its territory early in the day, adding that three Russian drones "were lost on location after crossing the Romanian border."
The drones were destroyed over the Odesa, Kherson, Mykolayiv, Kyiv, Sumy, Zhytomyr, and Cherkasy regions, the air force said.
Local officials in Izmayil, which is in the Odesa region, said that port facilities were damaged for the second day in a row and two civilians were wounded.
Oleh Kiper, the governor of the Odesa region, said the administrative headquarters in Izmayil was "partially destroyed and then caught fire."
Russia, which last year exited a deal brokered by the United Nations and Turkey allowing Ukraine to export grain via the Black Sea, has turned to targeting Izmayil and another Ukrainian Danube port, Reni, used by Kyiv to export its grain through Romania's Black Sea port of Constanta.
Romania's Defense Ministry confirmed that drone debris was found near the village of Plauru, across the Danube from Izmayil. "The remains of a Geran1/2- type drone of Russian origin were identified," it said in a statement, adding that the search continued.
The ministry said that two F-18 fighter jets belonging to NATO ally Finland took off from Kogalniceanu Air Base near the Black Sea coast to monitor the situation, the second day alliance warplanes took off in the region after Romanian F-16s had been scrambled the previous day.
A spokesperson said NATO has no indication of any intentional attack on NATO territory but said incidents of Russian drones entering Romanian airspace are “irresponsible and potentially dangerous.”
The spokesperson said NATO has further intensified monitoring and surveillance measures, including through air patrols, in recent days.
In images and video footage broadcast by Romanian television, burnt out trees and a crater could be seen at the site where the drone debris was found.
Earlier, Romania issued for a second day mobile-phone messages for Tulcea County, which borders southern Ukraine, alerting the public of the risk of falling drone debris. It was the second time Romania issued such an alert in as many days.
Romanian Foreign Minister Luminita Odobescu denounced the "heinous" Russian attacks on Ukraine and said Bucharest was in constant contact with NATO.
"More heinous attacks have been perpetrated by Russia against Ukrainian civilian infrastructure. Debris has been found on Romanian territory. We have informed and are coordinating with our Allies on this matter. Romania strongly condemns these irresponsible actions," Odobescu wrote on X.