ZAGREB, CROATIA --
A navy drone that apparently flew all the way in which from the Ukrainian warfare zone over three European NATO-member states earlier than crashing in an city zone of the Croatian capital was armed with an explosive system, Croatia's defence minister mentioned Sunday.
The Soviet-made plane crossed Romania and Hungary earlier than getting into Croatia, slamming right into a subject close to a scholar dormitory late Thursday. About 40 parked vehicles have been broken within the massive explosion, however nobody was injured.
"Traces of explosives and clues suggesting that this was not a reconnaissance plane have been discovered. We discovered elements of an air bomb," Croatian Defence Minister Mario Banozic mentioned on the crash website.
He mentioned that this additional raises a query about whether or not the drone belonged to Russia or Ukraine.
"There are parts that indicated it may have come from each," he mentioned.
Air crash investigators have pulled a lot of the drone's remaining elements from a big crater it created on affect, together with a partly broken black field that ought to reveal the drone's flight path.
Croatian officers have criticized NATO for what they known as a sluggish response to a really critical incident and known as into query the readiness of the navy alliance's member states to reply to a doable assault.
NATO mentioned the alliance's built-in air and missile defence had tracked the item's flight path. However Croatian officers mentioned the nation's authorities weren't knowledgeable and that NATO reacted solely after questions have been posed by journalists.
"If this case had been detected and resolved in time in neighboring international locations, we'd not be right here at present," Banozic mentioned.
"We are going to search solutions to what occurred. The protection ministers of Romania and Hungary mentioned that day they have been evaluating what occurred. We're ready for a solution," he mentioned.
Croatian investigators recognized the unmanned plane that crashed in Zagreb as a Soviet-era Tu-141 that was used for reconnaissance missions in each international locations within the Eighties.
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