A military drone from Ukraine hits a Zagreb park in the middle of the night. Burning questions remain unanswered: Who sent them? How could she fly over two NATO countries unnoticed?
Croatian soldiers inspect the crash site in a Zagreb park.
(dpa) The crash of an unmanned military aircraft over the capital Zagreb has shocked the Croatian public. The drone, which is about seven meters long and weighs six tons, hit Jarun Park late Thursday evening, as the Croatian authorities confirmed on Friday. Although there is a dormitory nearby, no one was injured or killed. Parked cars were damaged.
The aircraft had taken off from Ukrainian territory based on the flight route that had been determined in the meantime. The Eastern European country is currently defending itself against a war of aggression launched by Russia. “According to the information available to us, it is a Russian-made aircraft,” said Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic on Friday on the sidelines of the EU summit in Versailles. “We do not know whether it was in the possession of the Russian or Ukrainian army,” he added.
Croatian Prime Minister Plenkovic on his arrival in Versailles.
Entered Croatian airspace via Romania and Hungary
Croatian authorities confirmed that it was a Tupolev M-141 long-range reconnaissance drone, which was still being produced in Soviet times, in the 1970s. The aircraft entered Croatian airspace via the NATO countries Romania and Hungary. It flew at an altitude of 1,300 meters at a speed of 700 kilometers per hour and stayed in Croatian airspace for seven minutes. Croatia is also a NATO member.
Numerous police officers romped around the crash site on Friday morning.
As of Friday afternoon, it was still unclear who sent the drone. The Russian embassy in Zagreb said Croatia should turn to Ukraine. Aircraft of this type have not been used in the Russian military since 1991. The Ukrainian embassy in Zagreb initially did not comment on the incident.
In neighboring Hungary, people were puzzling over how the unmanned aircraft could fly over the country from east to west unnoticed for a good 40 minutes. The Hungarian Ministry of Defense only stated: “We have already seen the object flying at high speed over the territory of Ukraine. (…) From the moment it entered Hungarian airspace, we monitored and controlled it all the way until it left the country’s airspace.”