NATO hunting aircraft and air defense in the highest state of readiness after a new threat of Russian drones

Large -scale violations of Polish airspace earlier this week did not lead to extra restraint on the Russian side. On Saturday, both in Poland and Romania, fighter aircraft rose in a hurry to avert the potential danger of approaching drones along their borders.

On Saturday evening, the Romanian Ministry of Defense warned the inhabitants of the eastern province of Tulcea, near the border with Ukraine, for a low -flying Russian drone.

According to Minister of Defense Ionuț Moșteanu rose two F-16s from the Fetesti Air Force Base that followed the unmanned projection on his flight through the Romanian airspace, above the sparsely populated delta of the Danube, until the drone disappeared from the radar, in the direction of Ukraine. Two German Eurofighter combat aircraft were also deployed in the promotion that were stationed in Romania.

According to Moifulteanu, the Russian aircraft violations are still increasing. “Almost every week we have aircraft in the air, either of ourselves or from our German partners,” said the Minister of Defense on Saturday evening.

‘Fifty minutes above Romania’

Mo50teanu did not say why the NATO devices only followed the Russian drone on the way to Ukraine-and did not shot from the sky. The Ukrainian President VolodyYyr Zelensky wrote in a response to X That the drone penetrated ten kilometers in the NATO air space and flew around for fifty minutes.

Earlier in the day, Poland was again startled by approaching Russian drones. NATO equipment rose to defend Polish airspace, and the airport of the eastern city of Lublin was closed as a precaution. The Polish armed forces did not mention a violation of the airspace afterwards.

Last Wednesday a swarm of at least nineteen Russian drones entered the Polish airspace. F-35s of the Dutch Air Force, among others, got some projectiles. It was the first time since the large-scale Russian invasion in Ukraine that immediately fired NATO devices on Russian goals.

The Russian drone incidents coincide with the large-scale military exercise ‘Zapad’ that Russia and Belarus started on Friday at the borders with Poland, the Baltic States and Finland.

Extra combat aircraft

On Friday, NATO announced reinforcements of the anti -aircraft weather along the entire east flank of the military block. According to Secretary-General Mark Rutte, this happens in response to the “reckless and unacceptable” airspacing violations of the Russians. Various countries, including France and Denmark, already offered extra combat aircraft. NATO countries also want to ensure reinforcement of air defense at sea and on the ground along the eastern borders.

Zoom in

So far, Moscow denies that it has consciously violated NATO’s airspace. In NATO circles, it is generally assumed by conscious Russian provocations, with which the Kremlin would like to investigate Western reactions, in particular that of Washington.

President Donald Trump’s US government says he is not based on Russian design. “They can be mistakes,” Trump said on Thursday. His Foreign Minister, Marco Rubio, called the incidents on Saturday “unacceptable and unhappy and dangerous,” but according to him it is still unclear whether the drones were deliberately sent to Poland. “If there are evidence, then it is clearly a very escalating act.”

Zensky: ‘No coincidence or wrong’

Zensky stated Saturday night in a response On the incidents above Poland and Romania that Moscow knows exactly what it does. “The Russian armed forces know exactly where their drones are going and how long they can stay in the air,” says Zensky. “Their routes are always calculated. This is no coincidence, a mistake, or the initiative of a few commanders with a lower rank. This is a clear extension of the war by Russia – and this is exactly how they act.”

This is a clear expansion of the war by Russia – and this is exactly how they act

But the chance that Trump’s government actually acts against Russian aggression towards Ukraine seems small. Despite various warnings against President Putin about persistent Russian attacks on Ukrainian civilian goals, Trump refuses to announce new sanctions or to introduce levies on products from Russia, such as the rest of the world.

Trump said Saturday That the US only wants to impose new sanctions on Russia if the other NATO countries do that first. Moreover, Trump demands that the allies stop oil ignons from Russia. The chance that countries such as Hungary and Turkey will do that is very small. The European countries should also introduce heavy levies against products from China, the most important importer of Russian oil.

Limitation of mobile internet

In the meantime, Ukraine is eagerly looking for new ways to limit the impact of the Russian drone attacks. Last week the country was attacked within day with more than eight hundred Russian rockets and drones. Now Kyiv is considering lowering the quality of the Ukrainian mobile phone network in certain regions as soon as they are the target of Russian drone attacks.

The Ukrainian General Andry Hnatov, chief of the General Staff, said this weekend according to The Ukrainian online network Novyny Live That it concerns 4G and 5G connections that use the unmanned Russian drones during their attack.

Drones equipped with cameras and modems often use local communication networks to be able to navigate and exchange data. By temporarily closing the network, communication with the drones is disturbed and they are less easy to find their goals.

The Russians also often eliminate their mobile internet networks at Ukrainian drone attacks, but Moscow did not prevent the oil industry from being hit again this weekend. According to the Russian authorities broke out At the Surgutneftegas refinery at Kirishi, the second largest refinery in Russia, about 115 kilometers southeast of St. Petersburg.

Oil refinery on fire

According to the Governor of the Leningrad region, Alexander Drozdenko, the fire was quickly extinguished after the refinery was hit by debris of a downded drone. In the Kirishi refinery according to Reuters 355,000 barrels of oil processed daily, or 6.4 percent of the total.

Ukraine has been carrying out attacks on Russian oil refineries, fuel storage places, pipelines and pump installations for months. In these attacks, Kyiv sees the best way to fight Russia as long as Moscow continues to wage war. Not only does Kyiv want to meet Putin’s war economy and the armed forces, the Ukrainian government wants to show the Russians at the same time that the war has consequences for the country and the population itself.

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