A Ukrainian maritime drone explodes at a Romanian Black Sea port. No injuries reported.

CONSTANTA, Romania (AP) — A Ukrainian maritime drone that was being used in the country's war against Russia exploded Friday at a Black Sea port in Romania, while three other sea drones exploded outside the port, Romanian authorities said. No one was hurt.

The drone that self-detonated in the port of Constanta exploded at around 10:30 a.m., after the area had been secured and isolated by the Romanian Intelligence Service, coast guard and the Defense Ministry, authorities said.

“Immediately after identifying the drone, the Ministry of Defense contacted its Ukrainian counterparts, who confirmed that they had lost control of the operation of four drones,” the Romanian government said in a statement. “The other three drones self-detonated — two offshore and the third outside the port.”

“Confirmation of these events came from both the Ukrainian side and from data obtained by the Romanian authorities,” it added.

Romanian President Nicusor Dan said in a statement online that the Ukrainian forces “lost control of the assets as a result of electronic warfare actions by Russia," likely jamming, and that the drone's incursion into “Romanian sovereign space is a direct consequence of the war waged by Russia” against Ukraine.

The Ukrainian Navy confirmed in a statement that it had lost control of an unmanned naval boat “while performing tasks in the Black Sea operational zone,” and that its military was in contact with Romanian authorities "to prevent losses among the civilian population.

The incident took place a week after a Russian aerial drone that was part of an attack on Ukraine went astray and struck an apartment building in Romania’s eastern Danube port city of Galati, injuring two people in the NATO member country.

Raed Arafat, the head of Romania's Department for Emergency Situations, told a news conference Friday morning that helicopters had been deployed to search for more drones and that the authorities had issued text message alerts to residents.

“There is a possibility that there may be other drones,” he said. “We are not panicking. These are preventive measures. If there are other drones, we want to make sure there is not another explosion in an area where people are not evacuated.”

After the port explosion, more than 1,300 people were evacuated from several Black Sea beaches and the routes leading to them were temporarily blocked. Just before 3 p.m., the emergency authorities announced they had suspended evacuation measures.

The Russian Embassy in Bucharest accused Romania on Friday of intentionally releasing “incomplete information” regarding the drone's origin, and said “three other similar drones” belonging to Ukraine were drifting toward Romanian territorial waters.

“These are Ukrainian unmanned maritime vehicles, used by the Kyiv regime to commit terrorist acts against civilian ships and to create threats to the safety of navigation in the Black Sea,” the embassy said. “Any attempts to associate, directly or indirectly, these drones with Russia and to assign it responsibility for the incident are without any reason.”

The recent incidents in Romania are some of the latest in a series of drone incursions — from both Russia and Ukraine — to hit NATO members since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

A month ago, Greece made a formal complaint to the Ukrainian government after a military sea drone carrying explosives was discovered off a Greek island. Greece determined that it was Ukrainian-built. Greek Defense Minister Nikos Dendias called it “an extremely serious issue," and the complaint was forwarded to both NATO and the EU.

Romanian forces destroyed another maritime drone in the Black Sea on Wednesday. Since the beginning of the war next door, the Defense Ministry said that the Romanian navy has neutralized nine of the 156 sea mines in the Black Sea basin.

For its part, the European Union was giving “full solidarity and support to Romania,” European Council President António Costa said Friday.

“The EU condemns the repeated violations of airspace of Member States and reaffirms its unwavering commitment to the security of all Member States,” he said in an online statement Friday. “This is the third significant security incident in Romania in recent weeks. These incidents are a direct consequence of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine.”

McGrath reported from Leamington Spa, England. Associated Press writers Sam McNeil in Brussels and Derek Gatopoulos in Athens, Greece, contributed to this report.

A Romanian Police officer secures an entrance in the vicinity of a damaged warehouse following the explosion of a maritime drone in the Black Sea port of Constanta, Romania, Friday, June 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

Romanian Border Police officers secure an entrance in the vicinity of a damaged warehouse following the explosion of a maritime drone in the Black Sea port of Constanta, Romania, Friday, June 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

In this photo taken from video provided by OBSERVATOR ANTENA 1, an explosion of sea drone is seen in Constanta port, Romania, Friday, June 5, 2026. (OBSERVATOR ANTENA 1 via AP)

In this photo taken from video provided by OBSERVATOR ANTENA 1, smoke rises after an explosion of sea drone is seen in Constanta port, Romania, Friday, June 5, 2026. (OBSERVATOR ANTENA 1 via AP)

In this photo taken from video provided by OBSERVATOR ANTENA 1, an explosion of sea drone is seen in Constanta port, Romania, Friday, June 5, 2026. (OBSERVATOR ANTENA 1 via AP)

NEW YORK (AP) — Nicolás Maduro was returned Wednesday to a Manhattan courthouse where lawyers plan to request a June trial date for his drug trafficking case as his attorneys object to the U.S. military action that snatched the Venezuelan president from power and deposited him in New York.

Maduro, 63, and his wife, Cilia Flores, 69, have been held at a Brooklyn jail since U.S. forces seized them from their Caracas home in a middle-of-the-night raid and brought them to New York in early January.

Both have pleaded not guilty. They face potential life prison sentences if a jury agrees that they were part of a conspiracy to send cocaine into the U.S.

In a letter to Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein before Wednesday's hearing, prosecutors said lawyers will request that the trial be scheduled for June, with pretrial motions by defense lawyers to be filed by early September.

President Donald Trump’s administration has defended the raid as a “surgical law enforcement operation” in a criminal case first brought six years ago. Maduro has called himself a prisoner of war and his capture a kidnapping.

U.S. prosecutors say Maduro carried out a conspiracy to move thousands of tons of cocaine into the U.S. by colluding with Venezuelan law enforcement to help drug kingpins.

“I am not guilty. I am a decent man, the constitutional president of my country,” he said in Spanish at his arraignment in January.

Maduro’s lawyer, Barry Pollack, has said he expects to contest the legality of Maduro’s “military abduction.”

The lawyers have said there are complex legal defenses that the court must address before a trial can begin.

Maduro and Flores have not asked to be released on bail.

Police officers stand in front of a federal courthouse where former Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro is scheduled to make an appearance in New York, Wednesday, July 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

People protest in support of former Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores outside of Manhattan federal court, Wednesday, July 22, 2026, in New York.(AP Photo/Adam Gray)

People protest in support of former Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores outside of Manhattan federal court, Wednesday, July 22, 2026, in New York.(AP Photo/Adam Gray)

Law enforcement officers stand outside Metropolitan Detention Center ahead of a pre-trial hearing in former Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro's drug trafficking case, Wednesday, July 22, 2026, in the Brooklyn borough of New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

A motorcade believed to be carrying former Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro arrives to a federal courthouse in New York, Wednesday, July 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Police officers wait for the arrival of a motorcade carrying former Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro in New York, Wednesday, July 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

A motorcade believed to be carrying former Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro leaves Metropolitan Detention Center ahead of a pre-trial hearing in a drug trafficking case, Wednesday, July 22, 2026, in the Brooklyn borough of New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

FILE - Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro points to supporters during a campaign rally in the Catia neighborhood of Caracas, Venezuela, July 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix, File)