Romania Destroys 2 Russian-Made Drones Near Major Black Sea Gas Project

Romanian military divers recently destroyed two Russian-made drones near the Neptun Deep offshore gas project in the Black Sea. This occurred on Tuesday, August 11, following Romania's initiation of shoot-downs of Russian drones violating its airspace. The drones were located in Romania's exclusive economic zone, approximately 90 nautical miles east of the port city of Constanța.

The discovery was made by a civilian vessel that alerted Romanian authorities. A coast guard vessel with military explosive ordnance disposal specialists was dispatched to the site where the drones were found along with other wreckage.

Romanian officials contacted Ukraine to determine if the drones were from their forces, but Ukraine confirmed the systems did not belong to them. The drones were identified as Gerbera-type UAVs, a Russian-produced platform commonly used by Moscow during attacks on Ukraine. These include use as a decoy, reconnaissance tool, and in some configurations, an attack drone.

The precise origin of the drones remains undetermined. Romanian authorities chose to destroy the drones through controlled explosions to prevent potential danger to vessels and operations around the offshore energy project.

The incident adds an energy-security dimension to the increasing series of drone incidents around NATO's Black Sea flank. Neptun Deep, co-owned by OMV Petrom and Romania's state-controlled gas producer Romgaz, is a major new offshore energy project in the European Union, set to begin production in 2027. This could potentially make Romania the EU's largest natural gas producer.

Romania, Bulgaria, and Turkey already operate a joint Black Sea task force which has removed over 150 drifting mines since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. In July, the three countries agreed to expand cooperation to protect critical maritime infrastructure. The operation on Tuesday follows a recent escalation in Romania's response to drones.

On July 24, a Romanian F-16 shot down a drone that breached the country's airspace for the first time since Russia's invasion. That same day, Romania downed another drone, and on July 26, a third drone was intercepted by an F-16 over the Black Sea near Sulina. President Nicușor Dan denounced these repeated incursions as "inadmissible and intolerable."

Romanian authorities have reported that Russian drones have violated the country's airspace more than 30 times since Moscow began attacking Ukrainian Danube ports across the border.