Ceatalchioi

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.

Ceatalchioi
Commune
Location in Tulcea County
Ceatalchioi Location in Romania
Coordinates: 45°17′N 28°47′E
Country	Romania
County	Tulcea
Subdivisions	Ceatalchioi, Pătlăgeanca, Plauru, Sălceni
Government
• Mayor (2024–2028)	Tudor Cernega[1][2] (PSD)
Area	80.47 km2 (31.07 sq mi)
Elevation	2 m (6.6 ft)
Population  (2021-12-01)[3]	531
• Density	6.60/km2 (17.1/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+02:00 (EET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+03:00 (EEST)
Postal code	827040
Area code	+(40) x40
Vehicle reg.	TL
Website	www.comunaceatalchioi.ro

Location

The commune is located in the northern part of Tulcea County, 15 km (9.3 mi) 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.

Spillovers during the Russo-Ukrainian war

Further information: Russian strikes against Ukrainian infrastructure (2022–present) § September 2023

The commune of Ceatalchioi was the subject of various spillovers of the Russo-Ukrainian war, with Russia striking targets over the Danube on the Ukrainian river ports, most notably Izmail, directly facing the village of Plauru.

During the evening of September 3, 2023, multiple Iranian Shahed-136 drones used by the Russian Air Force, supposed to hit a target in Izmail, crashed and detonated on the Romanian side, close to Plauru. As the area the detonations took place is uninhabited, the incident went unnoticed.^[4]

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 their Romanian counterparts 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 the next week, in the immediate vicinity of the village of Plauru, and the third on September 13, in the area of the village of Victoria, part of the commune of Nufăru and 15 km deep in Romanian territory. The latter spread over several tens of meters, confirming that multiple drones were detonated on Romanian soil.^[5]

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). 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 that Russia violated Romanian airspace.^[6]

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.^{[7][8][9][10][11]}

On July 25, 2024, three Shahed drones launched by Russia strayed into Romania's airspace;^[12] debris from one of the Geran-2 drones were subsequently found in Plauru by the Romanian authorities.^[12][13]

November 2025 evacuation

MT Orinda burning in the Port of Izmail

Main article: 2025 MT Orinda fire

On November 17, 2025, the villages of Ceatalchioi and Plauru were evacuated by the Romanian Government, as a safety measure after a Russian drone struck Orinda, a LPG gas tanker under the Turkish flag that was sailing along the Danube river, close to the port city of Izmail and 500 metres away from the village.^[14]

According to the Romanian Government, the fire "presents an explosion risk", and the mayor of the commune, Tudor Cernega, announced that debris from smaller explosions related to the fire were already found on the Romanian bank of the Danube. The evacuation procedures were hampered by the fact that elderly citizens opposed the evacuation, the mayor considering a forced evacuation. The majority of the citizens self-evacuated.

In total, 246 citizens left the two villages, 180 of their own free will and 66 (51 in Ceatalchioi and 15 in Plauru) after the intervention of authorities. At least one person sought medical assistance amid the evacuation. The following day, the residents of Ceatalchioi were able to return to their homes as the ship fire was believed to be under control.

Experts estimated that, in case of explosion, the affected area may have a range as big as 5 kilometres.

See also

• Violations of non-combatant airspaces during the Russian invasion of Ukraine – Airspace violations during the Russo-Ukrainian war (2022–present)Pages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets
• 2022 Zagreb Tu-141 crash – Military drone crash in Zagreb, Croatia
• 2022 missile explosion in Poland – 2022 explosions in Poland
• 2023 Black Sea drone incident – Russian-U.S. military interaction
• Action of 26 June 1941