The Huffington Post
Police and forensic investigators examine the location of impact after a Russian drone struck an apartment building in Galati, eastern Romania. Vladimir Putin does “not care too much” if Russian weapons end up hitting Ukraine’s Nato neighbours, according to a former UK security chief. One of Russia’s drones crashed into a Romanian apartment block in the city of Galati and injured two people overnight. The move was condemned by EU leaders as “blatant and serious violation”, while Nato leader Mark Rutte warned: “Russia’s reckless behaviour is a danger to us all.” Romania president Nicusor Dan said the incident was the “most serious” to have impacted his country since Putin invaded Ukraine in 2022. Romania, a Nato country which borders Ukraine, expelled the Russian consul from its city of Constanta as a result. The Kremlin has already threatened its own response to that diplomatic move, claiming the retaliation would not be “long in coming”. But former national security adviser Lord Peter Ricketts told BBC Radio 4′s World At One that Russian leader Putin will not be concerned about rattling Nato. He said while it looks like this particular incident was not an “intentional attack” on Romania, “I’m not sure Putin cares too much”. Ricketts added: “He thinks it is a reminder to western countries, to Nato, what Russia is capable of.” It’s part of a whole “spectrum” of Russian activity to “try and disturb Nato countries,” Ricketts said. He pointed to the civilian building in Poland which was hit with no casualties in September last year, and the multitude of drones which have crashed in the countryside of Ukraine’s neighbours. Ricketts said: “This was a disaster waiting to happen. There’s been a whole series of incursions by Russian drones and aircrafts into Nato airspace over the last couple of years.” He added: “Some of those must be intentional. They are probing Nato to see how Nato responds, first of all [with] relatively low-level incursion but then implying that Russia could do more if they chose to do so.” “It is just another demonstration of how reckless the Russians are, continuing to fire hundreds and hundreds of Russian drones at Ukrainian targets, and honestly, I think not really caring when they malfunction and land on Nato territory,” the former security chief continued. “The most effective response of course is to get this war over, to ensure Ukraine comes out of the war strong, and to stop Russian aggression. “In the shorter term, the EU and Nato are both scrambling to develop programmes for counter drone defences, better detection, better capabilities to shoot them down – and of course, the experts on that are the Ukrainians who are having to do it every night.” Subscribe to Commons People , the podcast that makes politics easy. Every week, Kevin Schofield and Kate Nicholson unpack the week’s biggest stories to keep you informed. Join us for straightforward analysis of what’s going on at Westminster. Related... Russia's War In Ukraine Is At Risk Of 'Dangerous' Escalation, UN Warns Ukrainian MP Calls Out 'Moment Of Weakness' From UK Over Russian Sanctions Vladimir Putin Warned It Could Take 140 Years For Russia To Reach Kyiv As Ukraine War Goes On
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