The Ministry of National Defence announced on Thursday that a marine drone discovered near the Neptun Deep platform in the Black Sea had been completely neutralized by a Romanian Naval Forces EOD team.

According to a statement issued by the Ministry of National Defence to AGERPRES on Thursday, the analysis of data downloaded from the F-16 aircraft tracking systems, correlated with information obtained by the crew of the vessel that arrived at the scene, confirmed that a single drone was involved.

'The drone was struck by the onboard cannon of an F-16 aircraft but was not completely destroyed. Subsequently, EOD personnel aboard the vessel safely neutralized the drone. Inspections confirmed that it carried an explosive charge,' the statement notes.



Minister of National Defence Radu Miruta announced on Thursday that an explosive-laden naval drone was destroyed by the Romanian Armed Forces using the onboard cannon of an F-16 aircraft in the area of the Neptun Deep platform in the Black Sea.

'This morning (Thursday - Ed. note), we were informed by the Coast Guard about the presence of a marine drone a few hundred meters from the gas extraction operations at the Neptun Deep platform, located in the exclusive economic zone, 80 miles east of Constanta. A command cell was established within the Ministry of National Defence, which requested NATO authorization for the Romanian Armed Forces to take charge of the situation. Following an assessment and in coordination with the President of Romania, the decision was made to destroy the drone in order to protect the lives of the several hundred people working on the platform and to secure critical infrastructure. To ensure a rapid response, two Romanian F-16 fighter jets were scrambled with orders to engage. The drone was safely destroyed. It was carrying explosives,' Miru?a wrote on Facebook.

He added that, through the recently established direct communication channel with the Ukrainian side, he received official confirmation that the drone 'is not of Ukrainian origin.' AGERPRES (RO - writing by: Mihai Stoica;EN - writing by: Catalin Cristian Trandafir)

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