Explosive reminder of a nearby war...

THE SOUND of Russian strike drones buzzing through the sky and exploding nearby has become a regular part of life in Galati.

- James Knuckey

However, this is not in war-ravaged Ukraine but instead a small city less than 10 miles from its border in Romania.

People living in Galati, on the banks of the icy Danube, are a long way from the conflict's fiercest fighting in the Donbas region of Ukraine.

But even they are not immune to the effects of Vladimir Putin's brutal war.

Days earlier Russian drones targeting the Ukrainian port of Reni landed in Romanian territory, just a few miles from the city.

Andrea Georgiana, 20, who works in a cafe in Galati's centre, speaks fondly of living there before Putin's forces invaded their neighbouring country.

Now she says of being so so close to Ukraine with the threat of Russia looming over them: "We are scared. We hear things sometimes.

"A few days ago it was some drones at night. It is almost like normal." The port city has a population of around 216,000 and is Romania's biggest on the Danube Europe's second longest river which starts in Germany and ends in the Black Sea.