A maritime drone explodes at a Romanian Black Sea port, no one hurt

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BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — A maritime drone that is being used in the war in neighboring Ukraine exploded Friday at a Black Sea port in Romania but did not cause any casualties, the Defense Ministry said.

It said the drone self-detonated in the port of Constanta at around 10:30 a.m., and that the area had already been secured and isolated by the Romanian Intelligence Service, coast guard and the Defense Ministry.

The drone was not part of the Romanian army’s equipment and was not involved in its recent exercises in the Black Sea area, the ministry said. The area was evacuated, authorities said.

The maritime incident occurred a week after a Russian aerial drone that was part of an attack on Ukraine went astray and struck an apartment building in Romania’s eastern Danube port city of Galati, injuring two people in the NATO member country.

Raed Arafat, the head of the Department for Emergency Situations, told a news conference that helicopters were deployed to search for more drones and that the authorities issued text message alerts to residents.

“There is a possibility that there may be other drones,” he said. “We are not panicking. These are preventive measures. If there are other drones, we want to make sure there is not another explosion in an area where people are not evacuated.”

More than 1,300 people have been evacuated from several Black Sea beaches and the routes leading to them have been blocked, authorities said.

Romanian President Nicusor Dan said that law enforcement and security services “acted quickly and preventively” before the explosion and that the priority was the protection of lives and the security of port infrastructure.

“With a military conflict on the border, it is obvious that the security environment we are in is a sensitive one, which is why we will maintain a high level of vigilance,” he said, adding that the incident is a “direct consequence of the war of aggression unleashed by Russia against Ukraine.”

The two incidents are some of the latest in a series of drone incursions — from both Russia and Ukraine — to hit a NATO member since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Romanian forces destroyed another maritime drone in the Black Sea on Wednesday. Since the beginning of the war next door, the Defense Ministry said that the Romanian navy has neutralized nine of the 156 sea mines in the Black Sea basin.

French President Emmanuel Macron pledged support for Romania on Friday after the incident, saying, “We will do whatever your authorities consider as a necessity in order to protect the sovereignty of the land and the air."

“You can count on us," he said.

For its part, the European Union was giving “full solidarity and support to Romania,” European Council President António Costa said Friday.

“The EU condemns the repeated violations of airspace of Member States and reaffirms its unwavering commitment to the security of all Member States,” he said in a post Friday online. “This is the third significant security incident in Romania in recent weeks. These incidents are a direct consequence of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine.”

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McGrath reported from Leamington Spa, England. Sam McNeil in Brussels contributed to this report.