Turkey’s interior ministry said a drone that crashed Friday in a rural area of northwestern Turkey is believed to be Russian-made, amid growing concern in Ankara about spillover risks from the Russia-Ukraine conflict in the Black Sea.
The unmanned aerial vehicle was found near the city of İzmit, about 30 kilometers south of the Black Sea, the private Demirören News Agency reported.
The Interior Ministry said initial findings suggest the drone was a Russian-made Orlan-10 model used for reconnaissance and surveillance. The ministry said an investigation was ongoing but gave no further details.
The incident came days after Turkey said it shot down a drone on Monday that had “gotten out of control” as it approached Turkish airspace from the Black Sea.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has warned against the Black Sea becoming an area of confrontation between Russia and Ukraine after a series of attacks in recent weeks on ships operating in the region.
A Turkish vessel was damaged last week in a Russian airstrike near the Ukrainian port city of Odesa, just hours after Erdoğan spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of a summit in Turkmenistan.
© Agence France-Presse