MOSCOW: The Russian embassy in Romania has described a recent drone incursion into Romanian airspace as a deliberate provocation by Ukraine.
Ambassador Vladimir Lipayev made these remarks after being summoned by Romania’s foreign ministry over the incident.
He dismissed Romania’s accusation that Russia was responsible for the intrusion as completely unfounded.
An embassy statement issued late Sunday asserted that all available evidence pointed to a calculated provocation by the Kyiv regime.
The statement further claimed that Bucharest had failed to provide concrete and convincing responses to questions posed by Russian officials.
Romania has experienced multiple incidents of drone fragments crashing on its territory since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022.
These incidents have increased particularly as Russia intensified its attacks on Ukrainian port facilities.
Romania’s defence ministry reported late Saturday that its airspace had been violated by a Russian drone.
The ministry scrambled two F-16 fighter jets which successfully detected and tracked the drone until it disappeared from radar.
Officials confirmed the drone did not fly over populated areas and posed no immediate threat to public safety. – AFP
