On the night of Wednesday to Thursday, 20 August, at 02:23, the military radar system detected a group of aerial targets in the vicinity of the border with Ukraine, north of Tulcea county.

Two F-18 aircraft of the Spanish Air and Space Force were scrambled to monitor the situation. In addition, an IAR-330 SOCAT helicopter of the Romanian Air Force took off on an aerial reconnaissance mission.

The National Military Command Centre (core) notified the General Inspectorate for Emergency Situations regarding the activation of public alert measures in the affected area. A public alert message was issued at 03:20.

At 03:21, a drone entered Romanian national airspace, approximately 13 kilometres east of the city of Galați.

At 03:24, the crew of the IAR-330 SOCAT helicopter reported that the target had crashed approximately 4 kilometres north-east of Grindu, Tulcea County, in an uninhabited area. The impact of the unmanned aerial vehicle with the ground was followed by a fire, which extinguished itself. No casualties or material damage were reported.

A military search party is heading to the impact site to secure the area.

The air alert ended at 03:52.