Russian official warns Europe to brace for more drone incidents after Romania episode

MOSCOW, May 29 (Reuters) – Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of Russia’s powerful Security Council, warned European leaders on Friday that “drones will continue to enter their countries and prevent their people from sleeping peacefully.”

Medvedev spoke after NATO accused Moscow of reckless behavior and vowed to “protect every inch of Allied territory” after Romania said a Russian drone crashed into an apartment block in the alliance member country during an attack on neighboring Ukraine.

Medvedev said that “it still needs to be determined which country the drone belongs to” but that Europe’s “impotent” leaders should stop expressing anger over the incident because they are directly participating in a war against Russia.

“Let them be prepared: This will continue to happen,” Medvedev said in a statement. he said. “The war continues! And the citizens of the EU states, like the population of the warring countries, will not be able to sleep in peace.”

He said such incidents are likely to continue, especially in places where drones are being built for Ukraine.

“After all, European unmanned aerial vehicles, their spare parts and other weapons – not to mention intelligence – are used every day in attacks against our country. As a result, residential buildings are damaged and our civilians die,” Medvedev said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin was informed about the drone incident in Romania, and the Russian Foreign Ministry said it would quickly respond to Moscow’s retaliatory decision to close Romania’s Russian consulate in Constanta, TASS state news agency reported early Friday.

(Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge; Editing by Andrew Osborn)