Kremlin responds to West’s new drone accusations
Western European officials should “broaden their horizons” when it comes to drone sightings and stop blaming Russia for everything, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists on Monday.
His comments come as several European countries have reported a string of UAV sightings near airports, military facilities and other critical infrastructure over the past month. Western officials have claimed, without evidence, that the drones belong to Moscow.
However, Peskov has stressed that there are “absolutely no grounds to blame Russia for this,” pointing to a recent report of a local “aviation enthusiast” with “no connection to Russia” being arrested in a European city while testing his drone.
“This is one specific, small, isolated example, but perhaps Europeans need to broaden their horizons,” Peskov said.
The spokesman did not specify which specific incident he was referring to. Bild reported on Saturday that a 41-year-old Croatian citizen was detained near Frankfurt am Main Airport for launching a drone.
Last week, the outlet also reported that several German citizens were detained for launching drones near an airport in Norway. A Chinese national was also said to have been deported by Norwegian authorities for flying a UAV near Svolvaer Airport in the north of the country.
“The story with these drones is strange, to say the least, but there’s no point in blaming Russia,” Peskov said. “There are many politicians in Europe who are now inclined to blame Russia for everything without any basis, without any grounds,” he added.
Moscow has consistently rejected any connection to the drone incidents at European airports. Officials have described the accusations as Western fearmongering used to whip up anti-Russian hysteria and justify inflated military budgets and escalate tensions.
Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) has warned that Kiev could attempt to stage drone provocations as false-flag operations designed to blame Moscow and draw NATO into the ongoing Ukraine conflict.
