Romania scrambles F-16 jets after 5 aerial targets detected near Ukraine border

Romania announced Thursday that it had scrambled two F-16 jets overnight after five aerial targets were detected near the Ukrainian border.

“The radar surveillance system of the Romanian Ministry of National Defence detected, on the night of August 12 to 13, at 01:27, a group of five aerial targets in the Ismail area, over the Ukrainian territory, near the river border with Romania,” the Romanian Defense Ministry said in a statement.

It noted that two Romanian F-16 jets were scrambled to monitor the situation.

“Ground radars detected an aerial target penetrating the national airspace, approximately 2 km south of Pardina. The target remained in the national airspace for about 10 minutes, moving along the Chilia branch, before leaving the Romanian territory towards Ukraine,” the statement explained.

It added that shortly after the target flew over Romanian airspace, explosions were reported over Ukrainian territory.