Speaking at Russia’s annual Valdai Discussion Club Forum in Sochi on Thursday, Vladimir Putin joked about the E.U.’s suspicions that Moscow is behind the recent uptick in unidentified drone sightings in the bloc. “I won’t send any more [drones],” the Russian president said. “Not to France, not to Denmark, and not to Copenhagen.”
Putin framed the accusations as absurd, but he’s been known to brush off serious allegations only to reverse course later. A decade ago, he dismissed claims that Russian troops were involved in the seizure of Crimea, but he later acknowledged and even celebrated the operation. Meduza revisits how Putin’s denials shifted over time (using quotes originally collected by Current Time), and looks at the latest security incidents in Europe that Western officials have linked to Russia.
2014–2018: Putin denies, then slowly admits, the ‘little green men’ in Crimea were Russian soldiers↓
Asked by journalists why the “little green men” in Crimea look so much like Russian soldiers, Putin responds:
Look at the post-Soviet space. It’s full of uniforms that look like ours. Walk into a store right now, and you can buy any uniform you want. […] Those men were local self-defense forces.
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“Our troops were there backing the Crimean self-defense forces, of course,” Putin says on his annual call-in show Direct Line with Vladimir Putin.
The little green men A look at the people behind the annexation of Crimea. A photo series by Sergey PonomarevThe little green men A look at the people behind the annexation of Crimea. A photo series by Sergey Ponomarev↓
“I don’t hide it, of course — it’s a fact, and we’ve never tried to hide it. Our armed forces, frankly, blocked the Ukrainian troops stationed in Crimea,” Putin says in an interview with German TV channel ADR.
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In an interview for the propaganda documentary Crimea: The Way Home, Putin says:
All of my instructions were about acting carefully and relying on those people whom we can already call patriots of Russia today, building on them and their networks. But at the same time, supporting them and standing behind them with much greater forces and resources.
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In an interview with the Austrian TV channel ORF, Putin says:
The Russian army was always there. I want you to understand this — not just to repeat it mechanically, but to really grasp what was happening there. The Russian army was always in Crimea. Our military contingent was there; our servicemen were always present. I said it myself: Our troops were there, but they weren’t taking part in anything.
But when the spiral of unconstitutional actions in Ukraine started to unfold, when people in Crimea began to feel threatened, when nationalists were sent there by train, and buses and road transport were being blocked, people wanted to defend themselves. At that moment, our armed forces — without even exceeding the numbers allowed under the agreement on our base — ensured that independent, free elections could take place, allowing the people living in Crimea to express their will.
Fast forward to today: The Kremlin laughs off Europe’s allegations of drone incursions↓
Asked about reports by Western officials that Russian drones have been flying over routes used to transport U.S. weapons in Germany, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov responds:
No, we haven’t had a chance to see those reports, but it’s hard to imagine, because if that were happening, the Germans would have noticed. It’s unlikely they would have stayed silent. It looks more like fake news.
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At Russia’s annual Valdai Discussion Club Forum, moderator Fyodor Lukyanov asks Putin, “Why have you been sending so many drones to Denmark?”
“I won’t send any more,” the president responds. “Not to France, not to Denmark, and not to Copenhagen.
European ‘hysteria,’ Trump’s ‘paper tigers’ comment, and MAGA values Putin’s messages for the West at this year’s Valdai Discussion Club ForumEuropean ‘hysteria,’ Trump’s ‘paper tigers’ comment, and MAGA values Putin’s messages for the West at this year’s Valdai Discussion Club ForumMeanwhile, the drone sightings keep coming — and Europe scrambles to respond↓
The Danish media outlet TV2 News reports that the country’s military has issued an emergency call-up of reservists in response to recent drone sightings. (This has not been independently confirmed by Meduza or other outlets.)
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European leaders meet in Copenhagen to discuss plans for a “drone wall” along the E.U.’s eastern borders amid the surge in incidents. “There is only one country that is willing to threaten us, and it is Russia,” Danish President Mette Frederiksen reportedly said at the meeting.
British warfare expert Robert Tollast told NBC News that the “wall” might look like a network of radars and sensors linked to mobile air-defense teams and batteries using rapid cannon fire. Denmark bans all civilian drone flights during the week to ensure the summit’s security.
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Citing Poland’s Internal Security Agency, the newspaper Wyborcza reports on an alleged scheme by Russian military intelligence to hide explosives in cans of corn and use them to carry out attacks in Poland. According to the paper, Polish security services found a cache of such cans in a cemetery in Lithuania along with mounts that matched the cans’ dimensions. It also reports that a 27-year-old was arrested on suspicion of transporting explosives and drones between Lithuania, Poland, and Germany on instructions from a contact he spoke to via Telegram.
Several drones are spotted near Munich Airport, prompting the cancellation of dozens of flights. In response, Bavarian Premier Markus Soeder calls for legal changes allowing the army and police to shoot down drones.
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Fifteen drones are detected over the Elsenborn military base in eastern Belgium, near the German border, according to Belgian public broadcaster VRT. The outlet noted that the drones were noticed by chance, as the base happened to be testing its drone detection system at the time.