Ukrainian Army Fighter Jet Forced to Land on Romanian Territory

Update February 24: According to the Romanian Minister of Defense, Vasile Dincu, the young Ukrainian pilot got lost. Moreover, according to Dincu, the pilot couldn’t go back to Ukraine, as meanwhile, his airport had been destroyed by the Russian army.

Initial news

Following the Thursday morning incursion of the Russian military forces on Donbas separatist regions, one Ukrainian fighter jet Sukhoi 27 entered Romanian airspace unauthorized.

Two Romanian F16s intercepted the military fighter, forcing it to land in the northeastern part of Romania, in Bacau. The Ukrainian pilot surrendered to the Romanian authorities.

According to the Romanian Minister of Defense, Romania has taken all necessary response measures, both directly to the institution and to support the other components of the national security system, following the interinstitutional cooperation plans drawn up in advance.

On Thursday, February 24, two F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft of the Romanian Air Force in the NATO Air Command combat service took off around 6.15 am, to clarify an air situation regarding an unauthorized flight in the northern part of Romania, approaching the national airspace. The two Romanian military aircraft strictly applied the national procedures and international rules applicable in such situations, proceeding to the interception and visual identification of the aircraft that had entered the Romanian airspace. The aircraft, a Sukhoi 27 belonging to the Ukrainian Air Force, was escorted for immediate landing at Bacau Air Base 95, which ended at 07.05.

Minister of Defense of Romania

There are three hypotheses in this scenario:

• Piloting error, inadvertently entered the Romanian space
• The pilot avoided a direct attack of the Russian forces and entered Romania
• The pilot might have defected the Ukrainian forces, as Putin called for the Ukrainian forces to surrender their weapons.

Romanian authorities are now investigating the incident and interrogating the Ukrainian pilot.

According to the Ministry of Defence, the Romanian Army has opened military command points with attributions in monitoring the situation and coordinating forces and means committed to any actual scenarios that may arise.

To be updated.