President Vladimir Putin has asked Romania and its allies in Europe to prove the drone that crashed into an apartment building on Friday belonged to Russia.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the Eurasian Economic Union summit in Astana, Kazakhstan, Putin accused adversaries of always blaming Russia without a proper probe.
The premier wondered why the EU leadership took a position without visiting Romania, saying no one can determine the origin of a particular aircraft until an examination has been conducted.
Putin recalled Ukrainian drones previously flown into Finland, Poland, and the Baltic states. “The initial reaction was the same as it is now in Romania: “Help! The Russians are attacking,” he mimicked.
“It turned out that those incidents had nothing to do with Russian UAVs,” the President added, stressing that a similar situation could have played out in eastern Romania.
Putin requested proof just like Moscow did when fragments from “an attempted strike” on one of his residences were presented to the representatives of the United States.
“Let them provide those materials to us,” he requested, assuring his country will conduct an objective investigation and then assess what has actually happened.
EU and NATO countries have condemned the crashed drone that injured two people in Romania. It was part of an overnight attack aimed at Ukraine, according to the government.
The Foreign Affairs Ministry confirmed that the drone was tracked by radar in its airspace before plummeting atop the roof of a residential building in the city of Galati.
Romania has summoned the Russian ambassador. Foreign Minister Oana Toiu warned the incident could affect Bucharest-Moscow diplomatic relations and would be formally reported to the EU.
