NATO and European Forces Confront Escalating Russian Hybrid Attacks
Russian hybrid attacks have intensified across Europe, with military divers destroying two drones near a €4 billion energy project off Romania on August 11. Nine days later, Bucharest deployed two F-16s to eliminate a maritime drone near the same Black Sea gas platform, which had hundreds of workers aboard. Earlier in August, German police identified an armed UAV at Leipzig airport, and this week NATO jets shot down another unmanned aircraft that entered Lithuanian airspace from Belarus, a Moscow ally. Authorities attributed all incidents to the Kremlin. As President Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine continues with minimal battlefield progress and thousands of weekly casualties, these hybrid actions are growing in frequency and recklessness, according to officials.
Key facts
- On August 11, military divers destroyed two drones floating off Romania's coast near a €4 billion (US$4.7 billion) energy project.
- Nine days later, Bucharest scrambled two F-16s to take out a maritime drone near the same Black Sea gas platform with hundreds of workers on board.
- Earlier in August, German police detected an armed UAV at Leipzig airport.
- This week, NATO jets downed another unmanned aircraft that entered Lithuanian airspace from neighbouring Belarus.
- Authorities pointed the finger squarely at the Kremlin in all these cases.
- Russian President Vladimir Putin's war on Ukraine grinds on with little movement on the battlefield and thousands of casualties each week.
- So-called hybrid attacks on Europe are increasing not just in number, but in their recklessness.
- Russian attacks have been pushing ever deeper into European territory over the summer.
Entities
Artists
- Vladimir Putin
Institutions
- NATO
Locations
- Romania
- Bucharest
- Black Sea
- Germany
- Leipzig
- Lithuania
- Belarus
- Moscow
- Ukraine
- Europe