rki.news

MOSCOW/MALMO, Feb 27 : The Kremlin has dismissed media reports suggesting Russian involvement in a drone incident near the French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle as “absurd,” saying no verified details have been provided to Moscow.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told journalists on Friday that he had neither seen official reports nor received confirmed information about the incident that reportedly occurred Thursday near the southern Swedish port city of Malmo.
“If such claims are based solely on the presence of a Russian vessel nearby, then linking the drone to Russia would be quite absurd,” Peskov said, stressing that conclusions should not be drawn without established facts. He reiterated that he was unaware of the operational details surrounding the event.
Swedish public broadcaster SVT earlier reported that an unidentified unmanned aerial vehicle had taken off from a vessel in the vicinity and flew toward the French aircraft carrier before being detected by Swedish armed forces.
French broadcaster BFMTV said the drone was intercepted roughly 10 kilometers from Malmo port, where the Charles de Gaulle was docked during a North Atlantic deployment stopover.
Officials from Sweden and France have not publicly attributed responsibility, and no independent confirmation has linked the drone to any specific country. The incident has nonetheless drawn media attention amid heightened security sensitivities in European waters.