BUCHAREST: Parts of what could be a Russian drone fell on Romanian territory, Romania’s Defense Minister Angel Tilvar said on Wednesday, two days after Ukraine said Russian drones had detonated on the NATO member’s land.
Romanian officials had earlier denied reports of drones falling on Romanian territory and said Russian attacks in neighboring Ukraine did not cause a direct threat.
On Wednesday, Romanian President Klaus Iohannis said confirmation of the discovered parts belonging to a Russian drone would be a serious violation.
“I confirm that pieces which might be the elements of a drone were found,” Tilvar told Antenna 3 CNN broadcaster.
He said the area had not been evacuated because there was nothing to suggest that the parts posed a threat and said the pieces would be analyzed to confirm their origin.
Kyiv had said on Monday that drones detonated in Romania during an overnight Russian air strike on a Ukrainian port across the Danube River, where attacks have increased since July, when Moscow abandoned a deal that lifted a de facto Russian blockade of Ukraine’s Black Sea ports.
Speaking in Bucharest on Wednesday at the start of a summit of the presidents of Three Seas Initiative countries, Iohannis said the attacks were war crimes happening a “small distance” from Romania’s border.
“If it is confirmed that the components (found) belong to a Russian drone, such a situation would be inadmissible and a serious violation of Romania’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” he said.
“We are on alert and in constant contact with our NATO allies,” he added.
Tilvar reiterated there was no direct threat and told Agerpres it was possible the drone did not explode upon impact but rather it simply fell or pieces landed on Romanian territory.
“(That) does not make us happy, (...) but I don’t think that we can talk about an attack and, as I said before, I think we need to know how to distinguish between an act of aggression and an incident,” Agerpres quoted him as saying.
A ministry spokesperson said search teams had been in the area for several days while the minister and other defense officials talked to residents.
Moscow has conducted long-range air strikes on targets in Ukraine since the start of the war last year, and Ukraine has reported suspected Russian weapons flying over or crashing into neighbors several times.
In the most serious incident, two people were killed in Poland by a missile that fell near the border last November; Poland and NATO allies later said it was a misfired Ukrainian air defense missile.
Romania says parts of possible Russian drone fell on its territory
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Romania says parts of possible Russian drone fell on its territory
- On Wednesday, Romanian President Klaus Iohannis said confirmation of the discovered parts belonging to a Russian drone would be a serious violation
- At the start of a summit of the presidents of Three Seas Initiative countries, Iohannis said the attacks were war crimes happening a “small distance” from Romania’s border
Ethiopia arrests 22 over human trafficking
- The migrants were instead held in Libyan warehouses
- The gang made more than $13m by trafficking 1,800 people
ADDIS ABABA: Ethiopian police said they had arrested 22 people accused of trafficking almost 2,000 people, part of a sprawling network that saw at least two people die and the accused net millions.
The vast country is one of the continent’s main departure points for migrants to the Gulf and Europe, and a hotspot for scams and traffickers.
Police said late Tuesday the accused formed “criminal gangs” and offered people “false hope that they will enter Europe and live a better life after traveling through Libya.”
The migrants were instead held in Libyan warehouses, forced to contact their families for money, and essentially “held hostage until the ransom was paid.”
The gang made more than 2.16 billion biir ($13 million) by trafficking 1,800 people, leading to at least two deaths and 15 disappearances, police said.
In August, Ethiopia sentenced five people to death for human trafficking, state media reported, though the country has not carried out an execution since 2007, according to the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty.
