Russian Embassy in Sweden reports drone attacks

HELSINKI, July 2 (Xinhua) -- The Russian Embassy in Sweden said Thursday that two drones had hit its mission in Stockholm at around 2 a.m. local time (0000 GMT).

According to a statement posted on Telegram, one quadcopter dropped a container of red paint inside the embassy; a second drone, carrying what the embassy described as a dummy improvised explosive device, fell inside the compound close to the embassy building.

The embassy called the incident not merely a provocation, but "an open attempt to intimidate" its staff.

Noting that similar incidents had happened before, the embassy accused Swedish authorities of failing to ensure the security of foreign diplomatic missions as required under the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.

The embassy said that although Swedish authorities had formally registered previous attacks against the mission, their investigations over more than two years had yielded no results.

It warned that responsibility for any further attacks on Russia's diplomatic mission and for their possible consequences would lie with the Swedish side.

There was no immediate comment from Swedish authorities.