The military reconnaissance drone that crashed in southwestern Poland late on Tuesday belonged to the U.S. army, the Polish defense ministry said on Friday. Private radio R.M.F. reported earlier that the drone was found in woods near the village of Trzebien, southern Poland, after a passer-by called emergency services to say he had seen an object crashing in the area. The ministry said, “Information obtained shows that during a training flight by U.S. soldiers, contact with the drone was lost, and it fell into a forest area.” No injuries were reported in the incident.
The drone crash comes amid mounting tensions between NATO and Russia over Ukraine. The Pentagon has said that a Russian jet struck the drone’s propeller and caused it to crash into the Black Sea, but Russia has denied that claim. U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin held telephone talks with his Russian counterpart Sergei Shoigu on Wednesday to discuss the incident.
Shoigu and Austin agreed on the need to work together closely and jointly investigate the incident, the defense ministry said. The pair also discussed the need to increase cooperation in the fight against terrorism and extremism, especially on the issue of cyber attacks.
In other diplomatic developments, the European Parliament on Wednesday urged E.U. Nations to impose new sanctions against Belarus over its crackdown on political opponents and support for Russia’s war in Ukraine. The 27-nation bloc has already hit Minsk with multiple rounds of sanctions over its domestic repression and role as a springboard for Moscow’s invasion of the country. The sanctions include a ban on natural gas, coal, and steel exports and a restriction on access to the E.U. Banking system.
Meanwhile, residents of the Croatian capital Zagreb were rudely awakened to Russia’s war in Ukraine when a military drone crashed in the city’s southwestern Jarun district late Tuesday. The drone was being flown to a location in Ukraine when it lost communication with the controllers and crashed into a residential area close to student accommodation. It is unclear where it was supposed to be heading, but it had spent the previous hour flying over Hungary – a fellow NATO member – which borders Ukraine and Croatia.
The Pentagon said the MQ-9 Reaper drone operated in international airspace when two Russian Su-27 fighter jets harassed it. The drone maneuvered sharply and could not respond, causing it to lose control and fall into the water.
NATO members are on high alert for airspace infractions by Russia as the war in neighboring Ukraine rages. The alliance has vowed to retaliate against any aggression by any member. Poland, a Nato member, has been mainly concerned by incidents in which Russia’s missiles have landed on its territory. Its president, Lech Kaczynski, has vowed that any attack on any NATO ally will be considered an attack on all. The U.S. is conducting a significant operation to provide additional security for the European alliance.
