Russia accuses Sweden of failing to stop drone attacks on its trade mission in Stockholm

Russia has accused Swedish authorities of failing to prevent repeated drone attacks on its trade mission in Stockholm, following another incident early Saturday morning.

The Russian Embassy in Stockholm said in a statement on Saturday that a drone dropped a package containing paint on its trade mission building, the second such incident in recent weeks, following a similar attack on June 17.

“These attacks on the Embassy and the Trade Mission have continued for over a year,” the embassy said, adding that repeated appeals to Swedish police and the Foreign Ministry have yielded no results.

“We demand a thorough investigation into this and previous UAV attacks against the Russian Embassy and Trade Mission, the identification and prosecution of the perpetrators, and measures to prevent such incidents in the future,” it added.

The Russian side questioned whether Swedish authorities are “unable or unwilling” to ensure the protection of diplomatic missions as required under the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.

“Stockholm must understand that the Swedish authorities bear full responsibility for the development of this situation,” the statement warned.

Russia views the trade mission as an integral part of its diplomatic presence in Sweden.

Russian diplomatic missions in Stockholm have reported multiple acts of vandalism or aggression since the start of Moscow's full-scale war on Ukraine in 2022.