Item discovered on Romanian coast a fragment of ‘Pantsir-S1’ missile — statement

The item, discovered on the Black Sea coast in Romania’s Constanta Province is a fragment of a Pantsir-S1 air defense system missile, the Romanian Navy headquarters announced Monday.

"The discovered element does not contain explosive or dangerous materials," the statement says. "It is a tube of a 57E6 ground-to-air missile booster, fired by Pantsir-S1 missile air defense systems (NATO codename SA-22 Greyhound), produced in Russian Federation. [The missile fragment] most likely dropped into the water during the recent hostilities in the northern part of the Black Sea and was brought to the Romanian coast by sea tides."

The Navy headquarters also noted that this weapon is not in service in the Romanian Navy, and instead characteristic for the forces involved in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict.

"It is possible that sea tides will bring more similar components to the coast of Romania or other coastal states," the statement says, adding that this "poses no danger."

"Still, we recommend citizens that discover such ammunition fragments not to approach them and to immediately inform that authorities," the statement says.

The presumed ordnance was reported earlier on Monday. The emergency services evacuated the discovered item and handed it over to the Ministry of Defense.