Galati, Romania: A drone that smashed into a Romanian apartment building set off furious condemnation of Russia by Romania and its NATO allies on Friday but President Vladimir Putin insisted there was no evidence to blame his country.
Two people were injured in the first drone hit on a residential building outside Ukraine since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022.
Romania called the incident a “serious and irresponsible escalation” by its neighbour, but Putin said Russia “has never threatened and is not threatening European countries”.
“No one can say the origin of this or that aircraft until an examination of that aircraft is conducted,” he said during a visit to Kazakhstan.
“If they provide us with any objective data... in that case, will we assess what happened.” Here is what we know about the drone crash:
The drone hit the roof of an apartment building in the centre of the city of Galati, close to the border with Ukraine, sparking a fire and sending a 14-year-old boy and 53-year-old woman to hospital with injuries, officials said.
Drone incursions in Romania have been detected dozens of times since the start of the Ukraine war, but no residential buildings had previously been hit.
The Romanian defence ministry said two F-16 fighter jets had been scrambled in response to the drone, which it said had entered Romania’s airspace during Russian strikes on Ukraine.
