Every time Russia has tested the airspace of Ukraine’s allies, several countries in the alliance have reported incursions by drones into their airspace in recent weeks. A Russian drone struck a residential building in the southeastern Romanian city of Galati, the latest of a string of Russian drone incursions prompting widespread condemnation across Europe.
NATO Response and Condemnation
NATO secretary-general Mark Rutte has declared that the western military alliance stands ready to defend “every inch” of its territory in face of increasing incursions. "Russia's reckless behaviour is a danger to us all," Mr Rutte said in a post on X after the Romania strike injured two. "Last night showed yet again that the implications of their illegal war of aggression don't stop at the border." He added: "We will continue to strengthen our deterrence and defence at home and continue our support for Ukraine as they defend against Russia's aggression." Donald Trump last year warned that Russian incursions into NATO airspace could spell “big trouble” for Moscow, but it has since been able to continue prodding NATO defences without the threat of repercussions. At the time, Moscow said NATO was providing “direct and indirect support to the Kyiv regime and that it could be “said with absolute certainty that NATO is fighting against Russia”. As the war in Ukraine drags on after four damaging years, The Independent looks at the ways Russia is expanding the conflict to involve more countries.
Drone Incursions in Romania
Romania has been one of the countries that has suffered the highest number of drone incursions in the past year. The Romanian defence ministry said it scrambled two F-16 fighter jets and a military helicopter to monitor a drone attack on a building overnight going into Friday 29 February, adding that the pilots were authorised to shoot down any drones. It said a Russian drone crashed onto the roof of a 10-storey block of flats in the southeastern city of Galati during a Russian overnight attack on neighbouring Ukraine, causing an explosion and a fire that injured two people. Romania's emergency response agency said on Friday a fire broke out in a 10th floor apartment after the drone struck the building's roof and exploded. On Saturday, 13 September 2025, Romania scrambled fighter jets after a Russian drone entered its airspace. The country’s defence minister, Ionut Mosteanu, said that F-16 pilots came close to taking down the drone as it was flying very low before it left national airspace toward Ukraine. Further drone incursions and several crashes took place in November 2025, February, March, April and May. In the most recent incident which was believed to have been a Russian drone, two RAF Eurofighter Typhoons were scrambled on the morning of 25 April when a drone entered Romanian airspace and hit a house near Galati.
Denmark
The Danish prime minister said Russian involvement in overnight drone incursions near four airports in Denmark could not be ruled out. Russia denied involvement. Denmark’s defence minister warned the drone activity was the “work of a professional actor”, just two days after the country’s main hub was shut down in response to sightings that alarmed defence officials. Copenhagen is now considering whether to invoke NATO Article 4, which would formally request talks over the incident, a move taken by Poland and Estonia following repeated Russian incursions into their airspace in recent weeks.
The Netherlands
Several drones also flew over the Netherlands’ Volkel Air Base, with the airport of Eindhoven shut down for several hours - but the source of the drones is unknown.
Fighter Jet Incursions in Finland
Russian fighter jets have repeatedly entered NATO airspace since last year. On 27 May, Finland’s defence forces reported that a Russian aircraft had violated the country's airspace while taking a safe route during a thunderstorm. The Finnish Air Force said it had launched an “operational flight” to deal with the incursion.
Estonia
On Friday 19 September, three Russian fighter jets staged an incursion into Estonian airspace where they remained without permission for 12 minutes, the Estonian government said. Estonian foreign minister Margus Tsakhna said it was the fourth time that Russia has violated Estonian airspace this year, "but today's incursion, involving three fighter aircraft entering our airspace, is unprecedentedly brazen". The foreign ministry said that the incursion involved three Russian MIG-31 fighters and took place over the Gulf of Finland. The Russian charge d'affaires was summoned and given a protest note. On 18 March 2026, a Russian Su-30 jet again violated Estonian airspace, without publishing flight plans or holding any two-way radio contact with Estonian air traffic control. Estonia has also suffered several drone incursions at the hands of Russia, including one on 19 May which saw Romanian F-16 fighter jets shoot the drone down - the first time during the war a drone had been shot down by NATO aircraft in Estonia.
Drone Skirmishes in Poland, Lithuania and Latvia
Poland
Poland has been another one of the countries most affected by Russian drone incursions. On 9 September last year, there were 19 intrusions into Polish airspace, with many drones entering from Belarus, prime minister Donald Tusk said in parliament, adding that three drones were confirmed to have been shot down, with the fourth being likely. Several incursions of Russian reconnaissance drones have been recorded since.
Lithuania
Lithuania has also been affected by Russian incursions. Last October, an SU-30 fighter and an Il-78 refueling tanker, which had departed from Kaliningrad, briefly entered Lithuanian airspace, prompting Spanish Eurofighter jets to take off in response. On 20 May, Lithuania's president and prime minister were forced to take shelter after a drone alert was issued in the capital of Vilnius - although it is unclear what the source of the drone was. In November it accused Belarus, Russia’s closest ally in Europe, of launching meteorological balloons in a “cynical hybrid attack”. EU commission chief Ursula von der Leyen visited Lithuania on Tuesday as she met leading politicians from all the Baltic countries, due to violations of EU airspace by drones.
Latvia
She announced further defence funding for the countries, including Latvia, which has suffered several drone incursions dating to September 2024, when a drone crashed in the Rezekne Municipality. On 23 May, a drone plummeted into Lake Drydzis - it is unclear where it was launched from.
Belarusian Military Drills
Russia and Belarus launched a huge nuclear military exercise in mid-May, in the eastern European ally of Russia which borders several NATO countries. Authoritarian president Alexander Lukashenko allowed Russia to deploy some of its tactical nuclear weapons to his country, months after Russia announced that its latest intermediate range nuclear-capable Oreshnik missile system entered service in Belarus. The Belarusian Defense Ministry said that the drills will involve missile units and warplanes. Last year, the two countries carried out a long-planned joint military exercise, Zapad 2025, intending to showcase the close defence ties between Moscow and Minsk. Defence officials in Belarus originally set aside 13,000 troops to participate in the exercise, which was meant to take place along its western border, although by May the ministry cut the number in half and said the main manoeuvres would take place deeper inside the country. Although Moscow and Minsk have said the exercises are exclusively defensive and that they do not intend to attack any NATO member, they have drawn worries from Kyiv and Western allies in Latvia, Lithuania and Poland, which border Belarus.
Russia’s Hybrid Attacks
Russia has used other tactics as well as physical incursions to impact NATO allies. These range from cyberattacks to sabotage operations and disinformation campaigns. “This happens all the time,” says Ms Seskuria. “It has much deeper implications on European security, and there are various instances where Russia is directly intervening in elections. We saw this happening in Moldova last year, and this year ahead of their parliamentary elections.” Russia has been accused of meddling in the elections of European nations for years. The UK’s National Cyber Security Centre judged in 2022 that Russia had been behind a cyberattack with Europe-wide impact just an hour before its invasion of Ukraine. While Ukraine’s military was the primary target of an attack on high-speed broadband service Viasat, wind farms in central Europe and both personal and commercial internet users were also affected. Disinformation campaigns in Western countries have also been linked to Russia. “There are consistent efforts to push these narratives that are pro-Russian, portraying the West as an aggressor rather than a Kremlin that wants to violate Ukraine’s sovereignty and fights this war for its own imperial ambitions,” says Natia Seskuria, an associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI).
