| Type: | commune |
| County: | Tulcea |
| Ceatalchioi | |
| Subdivisions: | Ceatalchioi, Pătlăgeanca, Plauru, Sălceni |
| Leader Name: | Tudor Cernega[1] |
| Leader Party: | PSD |
| Leader Term: | 2020 - 2024 |
| Coordinates: | 45.2833°N 75°W |
| Elevation: | 2 |
| Area Total: | 108.06 |
| Population Total: | auto |
| Postal Code: | 827040 |
| Area Code: | +(40) x40 |
Ceatalchioi is a commune in Tulcea County, Northern Dobruja, Romania. It is composed of four villages: Ceatalchioi (Turkish: Çatalköy), Pătlăgeanca (historical name: Principesa Ileana), Plauru (historical name: Lascăr Catargiu), and Sălceni.
The commune is located in the northern part of Tulcea County, north of the county seat, Tulcea. It lies in the Danube Delta, on the right bank of the Chilia branch of the Danube, which marks the Romania–Ukraine border. Across from the village of Plauru is the city of Izmail, on the Ukrainian side of the border.
During the evening of September 3, 2023, during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, multiple Russian drones of Iranian production Shahed-136, that were supposed to hit a target in Izmail, crashed and detonated on the Romanian side, close to the village of Plauru (45.3289°N 28.8036°W). As the area the detonations took place is uninhabited, the incident went unnoticed, and it was the Ukrainian government who announced the explosion of Russian drones in Romania.[2]
Initially, the Romanian government denied the event taking place, but on September 4, the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine published a video showing the explosions taking place on the Romanian side. The Ukrainian government informed the Romanian government and a search party was commenced. As Romania is a NATO member state, it was believed that the government is denying the incidents to avoid an escalation of the events. However, fragments of a first drone were found in the area close to the Danube shore days later, confirming that a Russian drone detonated in Romania. The Romanian president Klaus Iohannis had a phone conversation with Jens Stoltenberg, the secretary general of NATO, after the incident, which publicly stated that "Romania has full NATO support.".
Parts of a second drone were found on September 9 in the immediate vicinity of the village of Plauru and the third on September 13 in the area of the village of Victoria in the commune of Nufăru, 15 km from the Romanian-Ukrainian border, which spread over several tens of meters, confirming that multiple drones were detonated on Romanian soil.[3] The Ukrainian Air Force recorded that the Russia launched several groups of attack UAVs from the area of the Chauda training ground (occupied Crimea) and Primorsko-Akhtarsk (Russian Federation).[4] Journalists on the site began questioning locals, who stated that they often saw Russian drones flying over their houses, giving clues that it may not have been the first time Russia violates Romanian airspace.
Similar incidents already took place in Moldova, Poland, and Belarus, countries not involved directly in the conflict. Romania became the second NATO country to be affected, after Poland. Coincidentally, Poland and Romania were the countries to be the most threatened by Russian politicians, because of their proximity and NATO membership.[5] [6] [7] [8] [9]
On July 25, 2024, three Shahed drones launched by Russia strayed into Romania's airspace;[10] debris from one of the Geran-2 drones were subsequently found in Plauru by the Romanian authorities.[10] [11]