Ruptly
"Ukraine's Ambassador to the UN Andriy Melnyk said the UAV that crashed into a building in the Romanian city of Galati was a 'Russian drone', rejecting any suggestion of Kiev's involvement. His remarks came despite Romanian President Nicusor Dan earlier saying the incident was the result of a 'shootdown' by Ukrainian air defence. "Once again we heard nothing new from the Russian representative. Unfortunately, he continues to sing the same old song, repeating the familiar narrative that it was not Russia, not a Russian drone," Melnyk told a UN Security Council emergency meeting on Monday. "I believe there is no one in his chamber who would retain a single shred of trust in the words of Mr [Vassily] Nebenzia (Russia's Ambassador to UN) [...] Russia can throw all these conspiracy theories that we just heard into our wastebasket," Melnyk continued. "Ukraine has full confidence in credible conclusions of the Romanian authorities that this was indeed a Russian drone and nothing else," he added. Romanian Foreign Minister Oana Țoiu said Romania's military analysis established 'without a doubt' that the drone which crashed in Galati was a Russian-made Geran-2. "Apart from an inscription in Cyrillic characters of the name Geran-2 from the recovered fragments, the report conclusively established that the electronic components, navigation systems, control modules, engine construction elements show similarities to those of other Geran-2 drones previously recovered in Romania," she said. Friday's drone incident over Romania saw Western leaders immediately condemn Russia, with NATO chief Mark Rutte hitting out at Moscow's 'recklessness', while European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Russia had 'crossed yet another line'. Soon after, Romanian president Nicosur Dan admitted the incident was probably down to Ukrainian air defences shooting a UAV off course. Dan revealed that when drones had "passed over the territory of Ukraine, some of them were shot down, and one of them was probably hit over the city of Reni. Its trajectory changed, and it hit Galati." Asked what might've changed the trajectory, he replied the drone was 'hit kinetically" and was 'shot down'. Earlier, the Romanian Defence Ministry had insisted that the drone incident was 'not an attack' on the country. Russian President Vladimir Putin, speaking at the Eurasian Economic Union Forum in Astana about the incursion, said: "No one can determine the origin of any aircraft until an investigation has been conducted," while Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova hit out at the Western condemnation as part of an "anti-Russian, Russophobic information campaign.""
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