Fighter jets were airlifted on Sunday night during a new Russian attack on the Ukrainian city of Ismail

German Eurofighter jets stationed in Romania, as well as F-16s belonging to the Romanian Air Force, were airlifted last night during a new Russian attack on the Ukrainian city of Ismail.

Colonel Corneliu Pavel, spokesperson for the Ministry of National Defense: Radar monitoring systems detected aerial targets in the direction of Ismail, and two Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft from the German allies' reinforced air police combat service were scrambled to monitor the aerial situation. The drones disappeared from the radar, and explosions were reported shortly afterwards in Ismail.

At 1:45 a.m., following the detection of aerial targets 30 kilometers north of Serpent Island, with possible movements towards the town of Valcov in Ukraine, Chilia or Ismail, two F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft were ordered to take off. At 2:20 a.m., the authorities sent the RO-ALERT message to Tulcea County. During the mission, the F-16 aircraft reported aerial targets at various distances from Ismail, and explosions were then observed on the Ukrainian side.

Colonel Corneliu Pavel specified that the Russian drones did not enter Romanian airspace. The attack on Ismail took place after at least four people were killed and 12 wounded on Sunday in a Russian bombing of Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, located 30 kilometers from the Russian border.

Two other people were killed in a bombing raid on a town in the Dnipropetrovsk region. Moscow's forces have intensified their bombing of Ukrainian energy infrastructure and cities this year.

Translated by: Radu Matei