A new map shows the scope of numerous incidents in which drones and missiles have landed in NATO territory since the start of Vladimir Putin‘s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Independent outlet Verstka assessed the number of times stray debris from missiles and drones had landed in countries neighboring the conflict. The majority of missiles and drones were Russian, although some were reportedly fired by Ukraine.
In the first year of the war, debris landed in neighboring countries seven times, 16 times in 2023 and so far this year, 11, making a total of 34 occasions in seven countries, according to the Russian-language Telegram channel.
This illustrative image shows Ukrainian military drone operators in the Sumy region, near the border with Russia, on August 11, 2024. Debris from 20 drones have landed in NATO territory according an assessment by independent outlet Verstka.
ROMAN PILIPEY/Getty Images
Verstka said there had been 10 incidents in non-NATO member Moldova, including the territory of the unrecognized Transnistria republic. while there were four in Belarus—whose leader Alexander Lukashenko is Putin’s closest ally.
But the other 20 incidents took place across five members of the alliance: three in Bulgaria, two in Poland, one in Latvia and one in Croatia.
Verstka said the other incidents occurred in Romania, which shares a 400-mile border with Ukraine, and has territory that lies a few hundred meters from Ukrainian Danube River ports, which are frequent Russian targets.
The first such case was reported in May 2022 when a downed Ukrainian Bayraktar drone was found in the Black Sea. “The last time UAV [unmanned aerial vehicle] debris was found in Romania was on September 8,” Verstka said, “most of the found debris belonged to Russian drones.”
Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu said he was certain the breaches “will continue” and Bucharest is considering laws that would allow it to shoot down drones invading its airspace in peacetime.
On September 7, Latvia said a drone stuffed with explosives had crashed in the east of the country after flying into its airspace from Belarus, landing around Rezekne 34 miles west of Russia.
Latvian President Edgars Rinkevics is among leaders of countries along the fringes of the conflict who have warned that their airspace is increasingly violated by drones and Riga has called on NATO to strengthen air defense on the alliance’s eastern flank.
The alliance’s Article 5 stipulates that if a NATO country is attacked, all member nations will come to its defense, although so far there are no direct accusations that Russia was deliberately targeting the countries.
“While we have no information indicating an intentional attack by Russia against Allies,” Mircea Geoană, NATO’s outgoing deputy secretary-general posted on X, “these acts are irresponsible and potentially dangerous.”
Newsweek has contacted the Russian defense ministry and NATO for comment.
