A drone that apparently flew undetected over several NATO countries all way of the Ukrainian war zone crashed overnight on The suburbs of the Croatian capital, Zagreb, triggering a strong explosion but causing no injuries, Croatian authorities announced on Friday.
A statement issued by Croatia government says the “unmanned military plane” entered Croatian airspace from neighboring Hungary at a speed of 700 km/h (430 mph) and an altitude of 1,300 meters (4,300 ft).
the government says that a official criminal investigation will be launched and that NATO will be informed of the incident. the crash means that the grand drone flew for at least 350 miles (560 kilometers) apparently undetected by air tusks in Croatia, Hungary and possibly Romania, all members of west military Alliance.
Military Experts of The war zone online The magazine said the plane was likely a Soviet-era Tu-141 “Strizh” reconnaissance drone that must have malfunctioned badly. He said Ukraine was the only known region. current operator of the Tu-141.
Croatian President Zoran Milanovic said the “serious incident” needs to be fully investigated to determine “how a relatively unsophisticated drone flew for over one hour over NATO countries without being detected. »
He said the drone crashed in Zagreb after running out of fuel.
Croatian Defense Minister Mario Banozic and Army Chief of the personnel both described the drone incident as “serious”, but said more details will be revealed after the ongoing investigation.
The two officials said during a news conference to which Croatia responded last night with the closure of son airspace. They said they were in contact with next to countries and NATO and refused to reveal who it was.
“We cannot say at this time who it was. These are relatively old flying objects that were used in the Soviet Union,” said the leader of said Adm. Robert Hranj. “I can’t even say he flew from Ukraine without a detailed analysis.”
Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said in a social media post on Friday that the Hungarian authorities were also investigating crash.
“According to information currently airspace available of several NATO member states, including Hungary, were involved in drone flight,” he said.
Zagreb Mayor Tomislav Tomasevic said the parties of the flying object is scattered in many locations. He said authorities were working to determine how the incident occurred and initial findings indicated that it was an accident.
“No one was hurt and it’s good fortune,” Tomasevic said. “It’s relatively big object… It is surprising that not one was hurt.”
Croatian police said they came to the scene of the explosion on The suburbs of Zagreb after calls from local citizens. They said they found a grand crater and two parachutes in a wooded area area. Some parked cars were damaged.
Pictures of the scene show metal parts of the scattered wreckage on the ground, a parachute hanging from tree branches and what appears to be a section of a wing. The sealed police off the area of the explosion for investigation. The Tu-141 has parachutes used for soft landings.
Witnesses called by the media said they first heard a big explosion that shook the ground, then a foul smell.
