The Russian Embassy, the first reaction after summoning Ambassador Lipaev to the MFA. “A theatrical action” / The explanation offered in the case of the drone that fell in Tulcea
Vladimir Lipaev, Photo: Facebook / Russian Embassy in Romania
The Russian Embassy in Bucharest had a first public reaction on Friday evening after the decision of the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to summon Ambassador Vladimir Lipaev to the headquarters in the case of the Russian drone that fell in Tulcea county this week. Moscow's diplomatic mission claims that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' approach was “a theatrical action” and that the accusations of airspace violations are “absurd and unfounded”
The Russian Embassy claims that the MAE organized for Ambassador Lipaev “a theatrical action, accompanied by a photo session, aimed at convincing public opinion of “a new violation” of Romania's sovereignty and airspace by the Russian Federation”.
“As evidence, fragments and photographs of an unmanned aerial vehicle, which allegedly “fell” on Romanian territory during an attack on civilian infrastructure targets in Ukraine, were presented. It was explained to the Romanian diplomats that for the Russian Armed Forces, civilian objectives were not and will never be targets, while Ukrainian military formations, not being able to hit protected military objectives, launch terrorist attacks precisely on Russian civilian objectives”, claims the Russian Embassy in Bucharest, in a post on Facebook.
“The so-called 'evidence' is not, in fact, evidence”
The embassy also disputed the evidence that the MAE says it presented to Ambassador Lipaev regarding the violation of Romanian airspace.
“It was emphasized that the so-called “evidence” is not, in fact, evidence, since the coordinates of the entry of the respective device into the country and the data on its route were not provided. In addition, the nature of the fragments unequivocally indicates that the drone did not fall by itself, but was shot down by the air defense forces, which could only have happened outside Romania's airspace. This completely excludes any speculation regarding an alleged intentional violation of Romania's territorial integrity and regarding any threats to its security from Russia,” the statement added.
The Russian diplomatic mission claims that Bucharest “knows very well” Moscow's conditions “for achieving peace in Ukraine”.
“In order to avoid the accidental fall of downed drones, it was recommended to end the supply of weapons to the anti-popular regime led by Vladimir Zelensky and his clique, which usurped power in the country. The conditions for achieving peace in Ukraine have been repeated several times by the Russian leadership and, first of all, by President Vladimir Putin. The Romanian side knows them very well, that's why the demonstration shows with absurd and unfounded accusations at address of the Russian Federation are extremely inappropriate”, concluded the Russian Embassy.
What the MAE had said
The reaction of the Russian embassy comes in the context in which the MAE had announced that Ambassador Vladimir Lipaev was summoned to the institution's headquarters on Friday, where “he was presented with tangible, ample and solid evidence of the violation of Romania's airspace” by a drone of the Russian forces during the night of November 10 to 11.
The MAE said that the “fragments recovered by the Romanian authorities” from the place where the drone crashed “undoubtedly prove its membership”, as well as “the involvement in the massive attacks that night against the Ukrainian civilian infrastructure located near the border with Romania”.
“The Romanian side expressed, during the convocation of the ambassador of the Russian Federation, its firm protest against this unacceptable and irresponsible act, which represents a violation of Romania's sovereignty”, the MFA statement also states, in which the possibility of sanctions is also mentioned.
