Breaking: Putin questions if the drone in Romania was Russian
Russian president Vladimir Putin on Friday questioned if the drone which crashed into an apartment block in Romania was from Russia and suggested it could have been a Ukrainian drone.
Putin told reporters he had only just heard of the incident and suggested that the drone wreckage be handed over to Russia so that Moscow can conduct its own independent investigation.
He said: “Ukrainian drones flew into Poland and Baltic states before, I think we have the same situation here.”
“The first reaction was exactly the same as it is now in Romania: The Russians are coming,” Putin said. “Then, after a short time, it turned out that it had nothing to do with Russian drones.”
Putin also pushed back against remarks by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who accused Russia of crossing another line with the incident, saying that she had not examined the drone debris herself.
A Nato spokesperson has said that the drones was of Russian origin.
Bryony Gooch29 May 2026 17:04
Russian spies are aggressively seeking Western technology as sanctions bite, officials say
Shahana Yasmin30 May 2026 08:22
Japan pledges $14.7m to Ukraine support scheme amid air defence shortages
Japan has committed around $14.7m (£10.8m) to a Nato-backed programme that helps purchase US-made military equipment for Ukraine, according to Japan’s foreign ministry.
The funding will go towards the Prioritised Ukraine Requirements List (PURL), a Nato-US initiative launched last year to speed up deliveries of equipment requested by Kyiv.
Japan said its contribution would be restricted to non-lethal items, in line with the country’s post-war constitutional limits on exporting lethal military aid.
Ukraine’s foreign minister Andrii Sybiha welcomed the move, calling Japan’s support a “powerful message of solidarity”.
Shahana Yasmin30 May 2026 07:15
Fires break out at Russian port after Ukrainian drone strike
Russian officials said Ukrainian drones struck oil-related infrastructure in the southern port city of Taganrog overnight, triggering fires at a fuel tank and an oil tanker.
Rostov Oblast governor Yuri Slusar said on Telegram that an administrative building was also damaged and two people were injured in the attack, according to the Kyiv Independent.
According to local officials, the strike hit loading infrastructure at the city’s port on the Sea of Azov. Separately, residents in occupied Crimea reported explosions in Feodosia and a fire at an oil depot, according to the Crimean Wind Telegram channel.
Ukraine’s military has not publicly commented on the strikes.
Shahana Yasmin30 May 2026 06:40
Nato must be more willing to push back when the Kremlin goes too far
Bryony Gooch30 May 2026 03:00
UN places Israel and Russia on sexual violence blacklist
The United Nations on Friday added Israel and Russia to a UN blacklist of countries suspected of committing sexual violence in conflict zones, a move that prompted Israel’s foreign ministry to say it would sever all ties with UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres.
Guterres’ annual report to the UN security council on conflict-related sexual violence goes a step further than last year, when he put Israel and Russia “on notice” that they could be added to the list of parties “credibly suspected of committing or being responsible for patterns of rape or other forms of sexual violence.”
Being added to the list does not automatically carry specific punitive measures such as sanctions, although public naming and shaming can cause significant reputational damage for the states involved, and those repeatedly listed are barred from UN peacekeeping operations.
Bryony Gooch30 May 2026 02:00
In pictures: Putin speaks in press conference
Bryony Gooch30 May 2026 01:00
Watch: Putin denies Russian drone struck Romania
Bryony Gooch30 May 2026 00:00
Ukrainian drone attack kills two in border Belgorod region, officials say
A Ukrainian drone attack killed two people in a car in Russia’s border region of Belgorod, officials said early on Saturday.
The region’s Operational Headquarters, in a post on Telegram, added that two people were injured. The region has been a frequent target of Ukrainian attacks in the more than four-year-old war between the two countries.
Nicole Wootton-Cane29 May 2026 23:19
Every time Russia has tested the airspace of Ukraine’s allies
Bryony Gooch29 May 2026 23:00
