ZAGREB, Croatia (AP) — A military drone that appeared to have flown all the way from Ukraine’s war zone over three European NATO member states before crashing in the Croatian capital was armed with an explosive device, Croatian crash investigators said on Wednesday.
The 6-ton Soviet-era plane apparently drifted out of Ukraine, crossing Romania and Hungary before flying into Croatia and crashing into a field near a student dormitory in Zagreb early in the morning of March 10. About 40 parked cars were damaged in the big blast, but no one was hurt.
Members of Croatia’s investigative team told reporters on Wednesday that fragments of the drone found at the crash site showed the device carrying an “improvised aircraft bomb” filled with an unknown type of explosive.
“It was clearly established that these are fragments of the OFAB 100-120 air bomb,” Maj. Mile Tomic said. “Both the bomb and its trigger were made in the former USSR.”
Investigators said they have not yet conclusively established which side in the war in Ukraine launched the TU-141 drone, originally used for surveillance missions. But they pointed out that the Ukrainians were more likely to be behind the launch, as “fresh” traces of paint from their blue and yellow flag were found on the debris, which also included a red star, the marking of the Russian Air Force.
Both Russia and Ukraine contested the start.
NATO officials have declined to comment on the incident until an investigation is complete, but the alliance had increased its surveillance flights over countries near the war zone, and two US Air Force F-16s were deployed from Aviano Air Base , Italy, deployed to Croatia on March 16, participating in exercises and strengthening NATO’s southeast flank.
Croatian officials had criticized NATO for what they called a slow response to a very serious incident and questioned the willingness of the military alliance’s member states to respond to a possible attack.
NATO said the alliance’s integrated air and missile defenses tracked the object’s trajectory. However, Croatian officials said the country’s authorities were not informed and that NATO only responded after questions were asked by journalists.
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AP writer Dusan Stojanovic contributed.