“According to the information I have, this flying object was produced in Russia, and we are not sure whether it belongs to the Russian or Ukrainian army,” Croatian Prime Minister Andrei Plenkovic said. “The flying object arrived in Croatia from the Hungarian side, and according to (Hungarian) Prime Minister Orban, it arrived in Hungary from the Romanian side.”
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The government said that a formal criminal investigation would be launched and that NATO would be informed of the incident. The crash means the large drone flew at least 350 miles (560 kilometers), apparently undetected by the air defenses of Croatia, Hungary and Romania, all of which are members of the Western military alliance.
Military experts for the online magazine The War Zone said the aircraft was likely a Soviet-era Tu-141 Strizh reconnaissance drone, which must have been severely disabled. It stated that Ukraine is the only known operating operator of the Tu-141.
According to Markian Lubkivsky, adviser to the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, the Interfax news agency denies that the drone that crashed in Croatia was Ukrainian. He put the blame for what had happened on Russia.
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“This drone did not have Ukrainian markings,” he said. “He wore red stars” – the symbol of the Russian army.
The Russian embassy in Zagreb stated that the drone was manufactured in Ukraine and that Russian forces stopped using the Tu-141 after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991.
Croatian President Zoran Milanovic said the “serious incident” should be thoroughly investigated to determine “how a relatively simple drone flew over NATO countries for more than an hour without being detected.”
He said the drone crashed in Zagreb because it ran out of fuel.
The Croatian defense minister and army chief of staff called the drone incident “serious” but added that more details would be released after an ongoing investigation.
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Both officials said at a press conference that Croatia closed its airspace last night. They said they were in contact with neighboring countries and NATO, and declined to say whose drone it was.
“At the moment we cannot say whose it was. These are relatively old flying objects that were used in the Soviet Union,” said Chief of Staff Admiral Robert Grange. “I can’t even say that he flew in from Ukraine without a detailed analysis.”
Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said in a social media post on Friday that Hungarian authorities are also investigating the plane crash.
“According to the information currently available, the airspace of several NATO member countries, including Hungary, was involved in the flight of the drone,” he said.
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The mayor of Zagreb, Tomislav Tomašević, said parts of the flying object were scattered in several places. He said authorities were working to figure out how the incident happened and that initial findings indicated it was an accident.
“No one was hurt, and this is a great success,” Tomashevich said. “This is a relatively large facility. … It’s amazing that no one was hurt.”
The Croatian police said they arrived at the scene of the explosion on the outskirts of Zagreb after calls from local residents. They said they found a large crater and two parachutes in a wooded area. Some parked cars were damaged.
Photographs from the scene show metal pieces of debris scattered on the ground, a parachute dangling from tree branches, and what appears to be part of a wing. Police cordoned off the site of the explosion for investigation. The Tu-141 is equipped with parachutes for a soft landing.
Witnesses cited by the media said that they first heard a strong explosion that shook the ground, and then an unpleasant smell.
Dusan Stojanovic and Jovana Getz contributed from Belgrade, Serbia.