Dutch PM: Europe doubts Russia's "dacha attack" accusation, burden of proof on Moscow
Ukraine's European allies doubt Russian claims that the country attacked Russian President Vladimir Putin's summer residence, said Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof on Tuesday. He says Russia still needs to prove that a drone attack actually took place.
Ukraine has thus far denied the allegations. At the same time, Russia is refusing to provide any evidence.
The leaders of Ukraine's main supporters discussed the matter during a video conference on Tuesday, Schoof said after the meeting. They were "very concerned about whether this report is true," the caretaker prime minister stated.
"Because Russia has a long history of fake news and influence peddling," he continued. The truth will nevertheless come to light, Schoof assured.
"I assume we'll get an intelligence report one of these days that will reveal whether this actually happened." Western countries, he said, "do have insight into what's happening here and there." So, "we'll undoubtedly find out at some point."
Schoof spent time on Tuesday in Romania where he visited Dutch soldiers stationed at Campia Turzii Air Base in northwestern Romania. They are equipped with two MQ-9 Reaper reconnaissance drones.
The prime minister brought oliebollen with him, and handed out the seasonal fried treat to the 30 soldiers located at the facility. Schoof brought three of them home with him using the government's aircraft to make sure they could be back in the Netherlands on time for New Year's Eve. Normally, they would have had to spent the day traveling with scheduled commercial flights.
The soldiers at Campia Turzii Air Base ensure that the unmanned aircraft equipped with radar, cameras, and sensors can take off, land, and remain in good condition. Pilots and sensor operators operate the Reapers from the Leeuwarden Air Base in the Netherlands.
Their mission is scheduled to conclude at the end of March, but an extension is likely. Romania is keen on this, and defending NATO's eastern flank is also a high priority for the Netherlands. Additionally, there does not appear to be an immediate need to get the Reapers back to the Netherlands. A decision on the extension must soon be made by caretaker Defense Minister Ruben Brekelmans (VVD).
The Reapers do need time to get acclimated to the Romanian weather, said one of the Dutch maintenance technicians, who asked to remain anonymous for security reasons. They were designed at a time when the United States was involved in wars in the Middle East, and engineers had the climate there in mind when creating the drones.
They are less well-suited to rain and snow, and can have difficulty getting airborne. But Dutch Air Combat Commander Marcel van Egmond said this has not hindered the mission.
