Russia responds rudely to Merz’s comments on drone incidents

Maria Zakharova, spokesperson for the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, has responded in her usual abrasive manner to a statement by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz suggesting that Russia might be behind a series of drone incidents.

As reported by Russian newspaper Kommersant, Merz had said that, in his opinion, Russia was likely responsible for the flights of numerous drones observed over Germany.

Commenting on this, Zakharova claimed that Germany would only complete its investigation into the drone incidents "in the next century".

She added that Berlin still had not resolved the issues surrounding the Nord Stream gas pipeline explosions and did not know who was responsible, implying that investigations into the drones would probably take until the next century.

It was also reported that late on 2 October, Munich airport temporarily suspended operations due to the presence of one or more unidentified drones.

German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius called for calm despite the flights of unknown drones.