A mystery drone, suspected to be from Ukraine, has crashed near the Croatian capital, Zagreb, raising questions about how it passed unnoticed over Hungary.  

The incident was announced by the Croatian government, which said on March 11, 2022 that it has launched criminal investigations into the incident and was working to determine the circumstances of the crash. The drone crashed into a park near Lake Jarun during the night of March 10, leaving a large crater. 

“All competent services were involved immediately after the crash of a military-type unmanned aircraft, which, according to data collected so far, entered Croatian airspace from east to west, or from Hungarian airspace, at a speed of 700km / h at an altitude of 1,300m,” the government announced.  

The War Zone publication said it believed the drone was a Soviet-era Tupolev Tu-141 reconnaissance drone that must have malfunctioned. The report said Ukraine is currently the only known operator of the unmanned aircraft.  

Other Twitter users pointed out the similarity of the name Jarun, with the town of Yarun in Ukraine. The two locations are over 1,000km apart.   

According to preliminary information, the drone came from Ukraine and crashed when it ran out of fuel, Reuters cited Croatian President Zorona Milanovic as saying. The President said it was not believed to be military action directed against Croatia.  

Defense Minister Mario Banozic said it was unclear whether the drone belonged to Ukraine or Russia, the Reuters report added.  

“This is a very serious incident. We will have to investigate it thoroughly,” Reuters cited Banozic as saying.