Russia blamed for most drone flights over Munich, says German chancellor
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz (photo: Getty Images)
Russia is responsible for most of the drone flights spotted near Munich Airport on October 3, which disrupted dozens of flights, according to a statement by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, cited by Reuters.
"Our assumption is that Russia is behind most of these drone flights," Merz emphasized.
He added that the frequency of violations of European airspace was unprecedented, even compared to the Cold War era, although none of the detected drones were armed.
All of them carried out reconnaissance flights, the German chancellor noted.
German airspace violated by unidentified drones
On the evening of October 3, unidentified drones were spotted near Munich Airport. As it turned out, they were military reconnaissance drones.
Due to the incident, Munich Airport suspended its operations, resulting in the cancellation of 17 flights, while another 15 flights were redirected to Stuttgart, Nuremberg, Vienna, and Frankfurt.
Unidentified drones reappeared at Munich Airport within a day.
Earlier, unidentified drones were also detected in the German region of Schleswig-Holstein. The drones flew over the necessary critical infrastructure facilities.
At the end of September, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius stated that Germany would shoot down Russian drones if there were a "real threat" to the country's security.
Drones in the EU
Since the beginning of autumn, the airspace of EU countries has been repeatedly violated by unidentified drones.
It all began on September 10, when Russian drones massively entered Poland, prompting a response from the army and government, and Europe started to prepare for defense.
Later, drones were spotted in Estonia, Denmark, Lithuania, and other European countries.
The authorities of some countries whose airspace was violated by drones openly acknowledge the possible involvement of Russia in these incidents. Others remain silent, referring to ongoing investigations.
