on Mar. 2, 2022, a Romanian Air Force MiG-21 Lancer went missing from the radar screen. An IAR 330 Puma helicopter took off from 57 Air Base for Search and Rescue mission and crashed on a field during this operation.
According to the latest reports, Ukrainian S-300 Accidentally Shoot Down Romanian MiG-21 Lancer
Romania’s defence ministry said the aircraft was part of a formation of two MiG-21 Lancer planes performing air patrol missions over Dobrogea in order to prevent violations of the country’s border. However, Ukrainian air defense systems mistakenly mistook the MiG-21 for an enemy aircraft and opened fire against it.
More details are provided by Mail Bd that claims;
‘In Romania, they said that the MiG-21 aircraft of the national air force was shot down by an anti-aircraft missile of the air defense of Ukraine. Presumably, it was a missile of the S-300PS complex.
Questionable training in the Ukrainian Air Force, with a recent history of multiple accidents including reported friendly fire downing a Su-27 over Kiev in the war’s opening hours, have made the possible downing of two Romanian aircraft far from an isolated incident.
Perhaps the most notable precedent was the downing by an older Ukrainian S-200 system of Siberia Airlines Flight 1812 over the Black Sea in October 2001, which killed all 78 civilians onboard.
While the S-300 is considered one of the most advanced air defence systems in the world, the S-300P/PS/PT medium-range systems from the 1980s relied on by Ukraine have much lower mobility and situational awareness were not designed for defence of large areas, and lack a multi-layered defence capability
Nope, wrong. In Romania they never said this. It’s not true, and everyone who knows a thing about aviation knows that MiGs are prone to malfunction and crash. We have old equipment. Stop spreading misinformation please. It had nothing to do with the war.