Between July and September 2025, multiple European countries including Lithuania, Latvia, Denmark, Norway, Romania, Poland, Estonia, Germany, and France reported numerous suspicious drone sightings in their airspace. Lithuania detected Russian drones crossing its borders on 10 and 28 July, one found armed with explosives. Poland experienced an aggressive drone incursion with at least 19 Russian drones violating its airspace on 9 September, leading to shootdowns and arrests related to drone flights over government buildings. Romania detected Russian drones during multiple incidents in early September including a Shahed 136 kamikaze drone. Denmark faced coordinated drone incursions over five airports in late September, forcing airport shutdowns and leading to a temporary ban on all civil drone flights. Norway closed airspace around Oslo airport temporarily due to drone sightings. Germany’s northern state Schleswig-Holstein increased drone defenses after spotting several drones on 26 September, and France reported unidentified drones over a military base training Ukrainian troops on 22 September. NATO and EU responses include NATO increasing vigilance, Lithuania requesting NATO air defense assistance, and the EU launching a ‘drone wall’ initiative along its eastern border with Russia, reflecting concerns over hybrid warfare tactics involving drones potentially operated by Russian actors.
Category: Military & Paramilitary Operations
Subcategory: Conventional Military Pressure
Incident Type: Airspace violations
Country: European Union
Source report: www.euronews.com/next/2025…
