Putin Says It Is Too Early to Determine Whether Drone That Crashed in Romania Was Russian

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that it was premature to conclude whether the drone that crashed into an apartment building in Romania was Russian, suggesting instead that it could have belonged to Ukraine.

The incident heightened tensions between Russia and NATO after Romanian authorities reported that a drone, believed to have entered Romanian territory during a large-scale Russian attack on neighboring Ukraine, struck a residential building. Romania, a NATO member state, condemned the incident, while the alliance accused Moscow of acting recklessly.

In response, NATO pledged to “defend every inch of Allied territory,” warning against any actions that could threaten the security of member countries.

Speaking at a press conference in Astana, Kazakhstan, Putin questioned the certainty of the accusations against Russia.

“Who in Romania says that this is a Russian drone?” Putin told reporters. He added that he had only recently been informed about the incident because he had spent the day in diplomatic meetings.

“No one can say what the origin of this or that drone is until a proper examination has been carried out,” he said, emphasizing that investigators first needed to analyze the wreckage before drawing conclusions.

Putin also argued that similar incidents in other European countries had initially led to accusations against Russia, only for later investigations to produce different findings.

“Ukrainian drones have previously been detected in Finland, Poland, and the Baltic states,” Putin said. “The first reaction was exactly the same as it is now in Romania: ‘The Russians are coming.’ Then, after a short time, it turned out that it had nothing to do with Russian drones.”

The Russian president further rejected criticism from European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who said the incident represented another example of Russia crossing dangerous lines during the war in Ukraine.

Putin responded by saying that such conclusions should not be made before forensic investigations are completed.

“She herself has not examined the drone debris,” Putin said, suggesting that Romanian authorities share information and any recovered fragments with Moscow so that Russian specialists could conduct their own analysis.

The drone incident comes amid growing concerns over the war in Ukraine spilling into neighboring NATO countries. Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in 2022, several drones and missile fragments linked to the conflict have landed in countries bordering Ukraine, including Poland and Romania, raising fears of unintended escalation between Russia and the Western military alliance.

Romanian officials have launched an investigation into the crash, while NATO members continue to monitor the situation closely.

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