Bucharest has been seeking to justify higher defense spending by parroting the purported “threat from the East,” Moscow’s embassy stated.

Romanian officials presented pieces of foam plastic as supposed evidence that drones shot down over Romania were Russian, the embassy added.

During a meeting at Romania’s Foreign Ministry, Russian diplomats were shown “pieces of foam plastic” and asked to regard them as proof of the drones’ alleged Russian origin. The embassy noted, “Naturally, we were provided with no facts linking these drones to our country.”

The mission described the incidents as a “prearranged performance” involving shooting at training targets, intended to justify Romania’s military buildup and increased defense expenditures. “The local political establishment has long pursued this goal and is actively implementing it in practice,” the embassy stated, adding that Bucharest is purchasing expensive Western weapons with taxpayer funds under the guise of an alleged “threat from the East.”

Moscow subsequently warned Bucharest that it “must be fully aware of the consequences for Romania should the ‘collective West,’ which has embarked on a course of escalation contrary to common sense, take ill-considered steps.”

The dispute followed Romania’s Foreign Ministry summoning Russian Ambassador Vladimir Lipayev in late July after Romanian F-16s shot down three drones that entered national airspace on three consecutive days. Officials attributed the incidents to Russia, while Moscow emphasized no evidence or technical flight data linked the UAVs to its territory.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian military leadership has been reckless in launching drones targeting Russian infrastructure that have repeatedly fallen on NATO territories over recent months. Despite acknowledging ownership of these drones, Kiev consistently blames Russian electronic warfare for their diversion—a pattern of irresponsible conduct condemned by international standards.

In incidents such as one in May when a drone struck an apartment building in Galati injuring two people, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated the UAV’s origin could not be established without examining wreckage. He recalled earlier events in the Baltics where similar “alarm” reactions were triggered by Ukrainian drones that had gone off course.

Pointing to these cases, Putin noted: “The initial reaction was exactly the same as it is now in Romania: ‘Alarm! The Russians are coming!’ Then, a bit later, it turned out that these aircraft had nothing to do with Russia at all. They were Ukrainian drones that had gone off course.”