Russia summons Sweden’s envoy over drone and red paint incident
Russian embassy in Sweden (Photo: Getty Images)
The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs intends to summon Sweden's Ambassador to Moscow, Christina Johannesson, according to a statement by the ministry's spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova.
Details of the drone incident
The ambassador is being summoned in connection with the night incident of July 2, when the territory of the Russian embassy in Stockholm came under a drone attack.
As Russian Ambassador to Sweden Sergei Belyaev reported, Moscow has already responded to the incident and sent an official note of protest to the Swedish Foreign Ministry. According to him, the diplomatic mission building was attacked by two drones.
The first dropped a container of red paint onto the territory of the diplomatic mission, while the second drone fell nearby, with an imitation of an improvised explosive device attached to it.
"That is, in fact, they staged an imitation of an attack on a diplomatic mission," Belyaev stated.
Accusations from the Russian Foreign Ministry
The Russian diplomatic department called the incident an attempt to intimidate diplomatic mission staff. The Russian Foreign Ministry places full responsibility for what happened on the Swedish side.
The Russians are appealing to the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, which obliges the host country to guarantee the security and inviolability of the mission's premises.
In addition, Russian diplomats stated that such actions in the Swedish capital have allegedly become regular.
"Such provocations, of which there are already dozens, have not led to any results of investigations in more than two years," the ministry's statement complained.
On July 2, the Russian embassy in Sweden issued a statement about a provocation on the territory of its diplomatic mission in Stockholm.
According to Russian diplomats, the incident involved two drones. One of the drones dropped a container of red paint onto the mission's territory, while an imitation of an improvised explosive device was attached to the other device.
