There are strong technical indications that the drones planned for the New Year's light show in Budva were deliberately shot down, because a device/system that interferes with satellite navigation (GNSS/GPS) was active for a short time in the area where they were placed, either intentionally or as part of some RF protection (anti-drone/GNSS denial).
This is stated in a report prepared by an American company, a manufacturer of unmanned aerial vehicles, which are allegedly Franjo Koletić, also accepted by Montenegrin investigators.
The owner of the Croatian company "Mirnovec Pirotehnika" had previously categorically claimed in an interview with Vijesti that the drones were deliberately shot down with an anti-drone jammer, a "gun" that uses an electromagnetic beam, and which is usually owned by the police, military or secret services.
The Kotor Prosecutor's Office, as well as the Police Directorate, did not want to reveal whether they had received the report from foreign experts.
The drone show on New Year's Eve, organized by the Budva Tourist Organization, ended in a fiasco. About fifteen seconds after the planned launch of 600 drones from the plateau in front of the Port Authority began, they began to return to the plateau and fall into the sea. Some of them collided with other drones that were taking off, until, about 40 seconds later, the operator stopped the launch. The drones fell for another twenty seconds.
The document, titled “GNSS RF interference analysis - incident during a drone show,” explains that it summarizes technical findings related to an incident of loss of GNSS navigation during a show held in the port area.
"The analysis is based on PX4 telemetry records from multiple aircraft to determine the cause of the degradation of the navigation solution recorded during the event... A sudden increase in GNSS noise and jamming indicators was recorded. Simultaneous degradation of the GNSS fix and a decrease in the number of satellites used. Activation of the EKF GPS integrity fail indicator, which confirms that the autopilot rejected the GNSS data as unreliable. Significant increase in GPS uncertainty values in correlation with other indicators. The above events occurred synchronously on multiple aircraft, and ceased after exiting the affected zone," the report says.
It was explained that “the combination of GNSS indicators at the receiver level and the response of the EKF algorithm at the autopilot level provides strong technical evidence of the existence of external RF interference of the GNSS signal”.
"The observed pattern is not compatible with multipath effects, urban shadowing, a software error, or the influence of standard telecommunications infrastructure. The characteristics of the incident indicate a short-term activation of a GNSS denial or anti-drone RF protection system in the event area," writes the analysis provided to Vijesti by Koletić.
According to the explanation, exactly such a pattern - the simultaneous loss of navigation on multiple aircraft and the normalization of the situation upon leaving the zone, is typical of radio jamming of satellite signals, and not of a technical malfunction of drones or common urban interference.
They are scouting and hiding for the sake of investigation.
The Kotor Basic State Prosecutor's Office is still determining whether someone intentionally shot down the drones during the drone light show that was interrupted after about eighty seconds in the sky above the Old Town in Budva at midnight on New Year's Eve, or whether the drones fell due to interference from other frequencies in the area.
The head of the prosecutor's office, Tijana Čelanović, responded to Vijesti that a case was opened regarding the incident "to determine the cause of the drone crash and whether the crash occurred as a result of the commission of a criminal offense for which prosecution is being undertaken ex officio."
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"In order to protect against disclosure of data related to the content of actions taken in the pre-trial procedure and evidence collected during the investigation, we are unable to answer you about what actions have been taken, what we will possibly take, and the content of the evidence collected," the responses state.
The Police Directorate specified that on January 1, 2026, at one o'clock after midnight, officers from the Budva Security Department were informed that during a show with drones above the Old Town in Budva, they had crashed into the sea and onto the Port Authority plateau.
They also explain that, taking into account all the circumstances, starting from the large number of tourists - domestic and foreign, who were staying in that city, the New Year's Eve celebrations themselves, as well as other events that required police involvement, officers from the Budva Security Department acted upon the report:
"And as soon as the conditions were met, we went to the scene, secured it and informed the prosecutor at the Basic State Prosecutor's Office in Kotor about the incident, who authorized police officers to begin conducting an on-site investigation. It was determined on-site that several drones had been damaged, and the same was secured until the morning hours, by order of the competent prosecutor, when the on-site investigation continued... By order of the acting prosecutor, certain technical material and devices were seized, which were forwarded for appropriate expert assessments to determine the cause of the crash and the damage caused by a currently unknown factor," the UP responded.
When asked whether they determined whether there was electronic jamming of GPS or communication signals in the Old Town area of Budva at the time of the incident, or whether they checked whether there were active services or systems (state or private) in the area that could cause interference with signals for unmanned aerial vehicles, they replied that the expert examination was ordered by the acting prosecutor.
"Considering that the expert examination is ordered by the acting prosecutor, for more information it is necessary to contact the competent state prosecutor's office, while on the other hand we emphasize that the investigation into this case is still ongoing, and that, after all the circumstances of the drone crash have been unequivocally determined and the relevant expert examinations have been obtained, the public will be informed," said the security institution.
Jovanović: This is an act of terrorism
The President of the Municipality of Budva, Nikola Jovanović, said that Budva, in a political sense, "has many sore spots" and that the answer to the question of why the drones fell should be sought precisely in that fact, assessing that it was an act of sabotage and terrorism, as the incident could have led to serious injuries or even death.
He states that the army, police and security services may have such equipment, and says that "in a political sense, he knows" who could have gone in that direction.
Appearing last night on the show "Klub Aplus", he said that "someone wanted to cause damage".
"Someone used certain equipment to limit their movement to a height of 15 meters, at a location that was an airstrip," he said, adding that a damage control system was obviously applied, but that it was also a potential misuse of military, police or other special equipment.
"By those who have access to that equipment. We have reported the case to the police and the competent prosecutor's office and we expect the institutions to do their job. In a political sense, I know who could have thought in that direction and who has access to such equipment," he said.
Asked if he meant those who control the security sector, Jovanović answered in the affirmative, stating that the silence of both the police and the army since that evening is indicative.
"I call on the Defense and Security Council of Montenegro to meet and investigate whether there was sabotage, abuse of official position and official equipment in all of this, in order to cause harm to Budva and someone else," he said.
Jovanović pointed out that the public will learn in the coming days what equipment was used to shoot down the drones, and concluded that, given that Montenegro is part of NATO's collective security system, both domestic and international institutions should be involved in the investigation.
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