'Deliberate provocation': Russia denies drone incursion in Romania, pins blame on Ukraine

Moscow's statement also comes a day after the Romanian foreign ministry summoned the Russian envoy over the incident.

Days after Romania reported a breach of its airspace by Russian drones, Moscow has denied the blame. In a statement issued by the Russian embassy in Romania said on Monday that the drone incursion in Romanian airspace was a "provocation" by Ukraine.

two F-16 fighter jets were scrambled and found a drone near Ukraine's southern border while it was monitoring a Russian attack in the neighbouring country.(AP/Representational)

Moscow's statement also comes a day after the Romanian foreign ministry summoned the Russian envoy over the incident.

As per an AFP report, Ambassador Vladimir Lipayev said Romania's charge that Russia was responsible for the intrusion was "unfounded".

“All the facts lead one to believe that it was a deliberate provocation by the Kyiv regime", read a statement issued by the Russian embassy on late Sunday. The statement added that Romania had failed to "concretely and convincingly respond" to questions posed by Russia regarding the incident.

Days after Poland, Romania reports Russian drones in the skies

On Saturday, Romania became the second NATO country to report drone incursions, alleging that a Russian drone had breached its airspace.

As per the statement from the Romanian defence ministry, two F-16 fighter jets were scrambled and found a drone near Ukraine's southern border while it was monitoring a Russian attack in the neighbouring country.

The ministry added that the drone was detected 20km (12.4 miles) south-west of the village of Chilia Veche, before disappearing from the radar, adding that the drone did not pose imminent danger and did not fly over populated areas.

Since the start of the Ukraine war, Romania has had several drone fragments crash on its territory since 2022, especially during the attacks on Ukrainian ports.

This alleged Russian breach comes days after multiple drones were spotted and downed over Poland.

Last week, Poland said it shot down at least three Russian drones which had entered its airspace. Polish PM Donald Tusk added that a large number of the drones were sent in from Belarus, a close Russian ally and Poland's bordering state.

Belarus, however, said the drones which entered Polish airspace were "an accident" due to their navigation systems being jammed.

(With AFP inputs)