NATO member Romania was forced to scramble fighter jets to its border with Ukraine, after reports that a Russian drone had entered its airspace and crashed on its territory.

Overnight on Tuesday, Vladimir Putin’s army launched a series of drone strikes on the port city of Izmail in Ukraine‘s Odesa region.

One of the UAVS is reported to have overshot its target and entered Romania, before crashing.

According to local media, at least 10 people called the emergency services after hearing the explosion.

Two F-16 jets were dispatched at 2.19am local time on Wednesday from a military base in southeastern Romania ato “monitor the aerial situation,” the country’s Defence Ministry said.

They returned to base two hours later after completing their sortie without further ado.

Romanian search teams are scouring an area around the village of Plauru for any signs of a drone.

The village lies across the border from the Ukrainian port town of Izmail, separated by the Danube River.

Ismail is a key port for Ukrainian grain exports, which earn the country billions in pounds and help keep the economy on its feet.

In 2021, the year before Russia‘s invasion, Kyiv made US$27.8bn (£23.8bn) from exports of foodstuffs.

Local authorities in the port city said that Russia had carried out a “massive attack” using Iranian-designed Shahed drones on Izmail, damaging infrastructure, and a residential building.

Three people were taken to hospital, local officials said in a post on social media.

Ukraine‘s army reported a total number of 23 Russian UAVs had tried to strike targets in the south of the country, and claimed they had shot down 17.

The drones were launched from Russian-controlled Crimea and Russia‘s Krasnodar region, Kyiv’s air force added.

This is not the first time Russian drones have crossed into Romania.

On March 29, the Romanian Ministry of Defence reported that fragments of a Russian UAV were found in agricultural land in Breila County, after an attack on Ukraine‘s energy infrastructure.

The incursions have prompted fears the war could spill over into NATO territories, potentially leading to a much bigger war.