Romania will close Russia's consulate in Constanța and has declared the consul persona non grata after a Russian "Geran-2" drone crashed into a 10-story apartment building in Galați overnight, Romania Journal reports. President Nicușor Dan announced this on 29 May, after an emergency meeting of Romania's Supreme Council for National Defense (CSAT), following the drone strike that injured two civilians.
The move marks Romania's sharpest diplomatic response yet to repeated Russian drone incursions into its territory and airspace. Until now, Bucharest had largely confined its reaction to scrambling fighter jets, recovering wreckage, and summoning the Russian ambassador.
"Full responsibility lies with Russia"
"We had a serious incident last night, in which two Romanian citizens were injured, and full responsibility for this lies with Russia," Dan said.
He confirmed that the entire Russian consular mission in Constanța would be closed. Moscow's diplomatic presence in Romania will be reduced to its embassy in Bucharest and the consular section attached to it.
Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin said he does not know the details regarding the drone that crashed in Romania. He made the statement during a meeting with journalists on the sidelines of the Eurasian Economic Union summit, according to URA News.
“No one can say what kind of drone it was until an investigation is completed. Ukrainian drones have flown into many places across Europe,” Putin stated.
Drone from a swarm of 43
The drone that crashed into the Galați apartment was part of a swarm of 43 Russian UAVs aimed at targets in Ukraine, Dan noted.
Euromaidan Press covered the strike earlier on 29 May: the long-range kamikaze UAV punched through the roof of the residential tower, set a top-floor apartment ablaze, and forced an evacuation.
Two Romanian F-16s and a helicopter were airborne but held their fire over the populated city.
Dan confronts domestic minimizers
The president also criticized Romanian politicians who had tried to downplay Russia's responsibility for the incident.
The remark lands as Romania continues to reckon with a year of Russian-linked political interference, including the Constitutional Court's November 2024 annulment of the first presidential round due to Kremlin-backed influence operations, an outcome that opened the way for Dan's centrist, pro-Western victory in the May 2025 redo.
