Tag: nato

NATO Allies Discuss Letting Pilots Open Fire on Russian Aircraft: Report

NATO allies are discussing easing rules for pilots to permit them to shoot down Russian aircraft, according to a report by the Financial Times. The news comes as alliance members consider a tougher approach against Moscow following a spate of alleged airspace violations, drone swarms, and sabotage plots in Europe.

A NATO official told Newsweek: “When it comes to the range of hybrid or grey-zone activities we’ve seen, including cyber-attacks, drone incursions, or attempts to sabotage critical infrastructure, NATO is working closely with Allies to ensure that we’re taking appropriate steps to ensure we can deter and defend. This isn’t new, and we continue to adapt as the situation evolves.”

Why It Matters

NATO-Russia tensions are worsening as the war in Ukraine rages on and there is an increasing risk of a direct conflict between Russia and NATO.

Both sides have characterized the current situation as a form of war with each other, though there has been no such formal declaration by either Russia or NATO.

What To Know

The FT, citing four unidentified NATO officials, said NATO allies are discussing a more forceful response to increasingly provocative Russian actions, including easing restrictions on pilots to allow them to open fire on Russian aircraft and deploying armed drones along the border with Russia. The asymmetric cost of scrambling fighter jets to intercept drones is a running concern for the alliance, which is seeking a financially sustainable solution.

NATO members on the front line with Russia, backed by France and Britain, initiated the discussions, which have since broadened to a larger group in the 32-strong alliance, the newspaper reported.

“One example of our work in this area is Baltic Sentry, which was launched in response to incidents affecting critical undersea infrastructure in the Baltic Sea,” the NATO official told Newsweek in a statement.

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US Now Violating Long-Standing Informal Proxy War Rules

NATO’s proxy war against Russia in Ukraine is attracting growing attention as it threatens to spiral out of control.  There is ample reason for concern.  What began as a limited military assistance program to Kyiv from the United States and its European allies following Moscow’s expanded invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 has morphed into something much larger and more dangerous.  NATO members are no longer just supplying Ukraine with weaponry that could arguably be described as purely defensive; they are equipping their Ukrainian proxy with far more destructive, long-range weapons capable of reaching targets deep inside Russia.  In addition, the United States and other NATO governments are assisting Ukrainian attacks by providing crucial military intelligence, including targeting data.

By engaging in that conduct, the United States is violating some informal but very real rules governing previous proxy wars that Washington has waged against adversaries.  One especially significant taboo barred attacks against the homelands of either the United States or its great power rival.  By allowing Ukraine, much less members of NATO, to be involved in attacks inside Russia, Washington has trashed that prohibition. Such reckless behavior threatens to entangle America and NATO as a whole in the Ukraine war as an outright belligerent against a nuclear-armed Russia and risk triggering World War III.

The conflict in Ukraine is hardly the first proxy war in history or even during just the period since the end of World War II.  Such ploys go back to the days of the Roman Empire and probably earlier.  The Korean War in the early 1950s had distinct features of a proxy war. Josef Stalin’s regime in the Soviet Union pushed its North Korean client to attack the Western-backed government in Seoul in an effort to unite Korea under communist rule.  Washington (along with a few close allies) intervened to thwart that offensive and prop-up its anti-communist protectorate in South Korea.

The conflict threatened to become much more than a Korean civil war or a proxy war between the United States and the Soviet Union, however.  Matters escalated sharply when Moscow’s prominent ally, communist China, intervened with its own troops.  That development highlighted how clients, especially significant powers with their own policy agendas, can create a perilous situation during a proxy war even if the homelands of the two main players remain off limits.  At one point, U.S. leaders considered attacking China, perhaps even using nuclear weapons.  Such a move might have transformed the existing proxy war on the Korean Peninsula into a direct armed conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union.

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French Navy Seizes Russian “Shadow-Fleet” Vessel Suspected of Launching Mystery Drones Into NATO Airspace

French naval forces intercepted and detained two crew members aboard the oil tanker Boracay—a vessel long suspected of being part of Russia’s so-called “shadow fleet” and now under fresh scrutiny for possible links to the recent wave of mystery drone incursions into NATO airspace. 

The arrests of the two crew members from the Boracay, a vessel long suspected of being part of Russia’s shadow fleet, represent a significant development. This is one of the strongest indications yet that Russia may be orchestrating the drone incursions recently reported in NATO airspace, underscoring the far-reaching logistical networks behind these aerial disruptions.

The arrests come on the heels of a sweeping wave of mystery drone incursions targeting sensitive sites across NATO countries over the past week. These incursions, which involve unidentified drones flying over military installations and critical infrastructure, have caused significant disruptions. Denmark has borne the brunt, with flights forcing the temporary closure of major hubs including Copenhagen, Oslo, Aalborg, and Billund airports. Since September 22, Sweden, Finland, Lithuania, France, and Germany have also reported drones operating near military installations and critical infrastructure. 

Taken together, the incidents suggest a coordinated effort to probe Europe’s defenses, intensifying questions about who is directing the flights and how they are being launched.

According to reports, the French military first boarded the Boracay on September 27, ordering the tanker to anchor off Saint-Nazaire. French prosecutor Stéphane Kellenberger told Agence France-Presse (AFP) that two crew members—who identified themselves as the ship’s captain and first mate—were taken into custody for “failure to justify the nationality of the vessel” and “refusal to cooperate.”

Citing military and intelligence sources, several Danish media outlets reported that the French raid was ultimately prompted by suspicions that the Boracay had been used as a launch platform for the recent mystery drone incursions in NATO airspace. 

Shipping records indicate that the Boracay departed from Primorsk, Russia, on September 20, officially bound for India. Its route took it through the North Sea and past Danish and German waters, as the mystery drone incursions were first being reported, from September 22 to 25. 

During that same period, maritime trackers also logged two other Russian commercial vessels—the Oslo Carrier 3 and Astrol-1—alongside the Russian Ropucha-class landing ship Aleksandr Shabalin operating in waters off Denmark.

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NATO members say they’re confident, mostly coordinated on how to deal with Russian drone threats

If Russia again encroaches in NATO-member airspace, officials say they now have set expectations about how that nation will respond—and the list includes options from tracking the Russian aircraft to shooting them down.

Over the past week, NATO leaders have been working to bring more “coherence [and] synchronization across all of the air policing activities,” one senior military official told Defense One Saturday at the NATO military committee meeting here. However,  NATO members still have to work through issues around specific authorities and rules of engagement, the official said. “Some countries have some legal limits. Some countries have some administrative limits that they must get political approval for. But it’s all being smoothed out.”

Escalating Russian incursions have led to a variety of actions just this month, from shootdowns of Russian drones over Poland on September 10 to a NATO-led escort of fighter jets out of Estonia a little more than a week later. And top officials of NATO countries have promised swift responses. Poland, for instance, has said it will shoot down drones with or without NATO permission.

Adm. Giuseppe Cavo Dragone, chair of the NATO military committee, said the rules of engagement for how NATO members respond vary tremendously by the threat level of each incident, such as whether the drones or jets are known to be armed. The determination may come down to the pilot or reach all the way up to the NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe. Rules of engagement are a “tool that can evolve as far as the threat is changing,” he said.

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Here are 9 alarming signs that the US and NATO are both preparing for war

 The only way that Russia could possibly be defeated in Ukraine would be if western forces get directly involved in the conflict. Sadly, it appears that events are rapidly taking us in that direction.

When long-range missiles that are provided by western countries and that are guided to their targets by western countries start slamming into Moscow, it is likely that the Russians will respond with overwhelming force.

That will give western countries all the justification that they need to officially enter the war, and then we will be just one step away from a nuclear apocalypse. The following are 9 signs that the United States and NATO are both preparing for war…

#1 Keith Kellogg has told Fox News that President Trump has given Ukraine authorization to conduct long-range missile strikes deep inside Russian territory…

“Are you saying it is the President’s position that Ukraine can conduct long-range strike into Russia? That that has been authorized by the President?” the Fox News host asked Kellogg.

“I think reading what he has said and reading what Vice President Vance has said as well as Secretary Rubio, the answer is, yes,” Kellogg said in response.

#2 According to the Wall Street Journal, the Pentagon is asking firms that produce missiles for the U.S. military to “double or even quadruple production rates”…

The Pentagon, alarmed at the low weapons stockpiles the U.S. would have on hand for a potential future conflict with China, is urging its missile suppliers to double or even quadruple production rates on a breakneck schedule.

The push to speed production of the critical weapons in the highest demand has played out through a series of high-level meetings between Pentagon leaders and senior representatives from several U.S. missile makers, according to people familiar with the matter.

Deputy Defense Secretary Steve Feinberg is taking an unusually hands-on role in the effort, called the Munitions Acceleration Council, and calls some company executives weekly to discuss it, some of the people said.

#3 It has been confirmed that the U.S. is strongly considering sending long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles to Ukraine…

U.S. Vice President JD Vance has acknowledged that the White House is actively considering proposals to sell Tomahawk missiles to European allies for use in Ukraine.

Appearing on Fox News Sunday, Vice President Vance said that the Trump administration is “looking at” sending long-range Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine, as Washington seeks to ramp up pressure on Moscow to come to the negotiating table and come to a peace agreement to end the bloody conflict.

“It’s something the President’s going to make the final determination on,” Vance said of the Tomahawks. “I’ll let the president speak to it, but I know that we’re having conversations this very minute about that issue.”

Tomahawk cruise missiles can travel 1,000 miles, and they would be a very serious threat to the city of Moscow.

It is expected that Vladimir Putin is expected to address this threat during a “major speech” that he is scheduled to deliver next week…

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Mystery Drone Incursions in NATO Airspace Spark Europe-Wide Concerns Over “Hybrid Warfare” Threats

On September 22, air traffic at Copenhagen Airport came to a standstill when as many as three unidentified drones appeared in its airspace, forcing controllers to shut down Scandinavia’s busiest hub and divert dozens of flights. 

What could have initially been seen as an isolated disruption soon emerged as the opening salvo in a surge of recent alleged drone incursions across NATO territory—an escalating security crisis exposing serious gaps in European drone defenses and compelling the alliance to recalibrate its strategy. 

In the past week, multiple NATO member states have reported mysterious overflights of military installations, airports, and critical infrastructure, prompting governments to scramble their defenses, question the perpetrators’ motives, and warn that a new, low-level form of hybrid warfare may be unfolding over Europe. 

From northern Germany to France’s interior, the pattern has become unmistakable: drones of unknown origin operating with impunity in NATO airspace. 

“The number, size, flight patterns, [and] time over the airport. All this together indicates that it is a capable actor,” Police Inspector Jens Jespersen said after the Copenhagen sightings. “Which capable actor, I do not know.”

Following repeated incursions, including near Copenhagen, Oslo, Aalborg, and Billund airports, the Danish government announced a nationwide ban on all civilian drone flights from September 29 through October 3. 

The measure coincides with Copenhagen’s preparations to host a summit of European Union leaders on strengthening Europe’s common defense and continued support for Ukraine. 

“Denmark will host EU leaders in the coming week, where we will have extra focus on security,” Transport Minister Thomas Danielsen said in a statement. “Therefore, from Monday to Friday, we will close the Danish airspace to all civilian drone flights.”

“In this way, we remove the risk that enemy drones can be confused with legal drones and vice versa,” Danielsen said. 

However,  Denmark isn’t alone in feeling exposed to this recent unidentified drone threat. In Germany’s northernmost state, Schleswig-Holstein, authorities reported multiple drone sightings on the night of September 26. 

“Of course, we in Schleswig-Holstein are also investigating every suspicion of espionage and sabotage in this case and remain very vigilant in this area,” Schleswig-Holstein’s interior minister, Sabine Suetterlin-Waack, told Reuters. 

That same day, French authorities reported unauthorized drone activity over the Mourmelon-le-Grand military base. French media reported the incident prompted heightened security at the installation, which houses the 501st Tank Regiment and has previously served as a training ground for Ukrainian troops.

Throughout the week of September 22, unidentified drone incursions were similarly reported flying near critical infrastructure in Sweden, Finland, and Lithuania. 

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Assessing Reports That Ukraine Is Preparing A False Flag Drone Provocation Against NATO

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova raised global awareness of Hungarian media reports about a planned Ukrainian false flag drone provocation against NATO in her Telegram post on Friday. She hyperlinked to one of the outlets, Pesti Srácok, a little more than two hours after they published their editorial. It ended by citing unspecified Telegram posts about Ukraine’s plans to bomb logistics hubs in Poland and Romania with captured Russian drones and then blame Moscow.

Accordingly, there’s no solid intelligence about this, just social media reports that were picked up by the Russian Foreign Ministry and amplified by their spokeswoman. Nevertheless, this doesn’t mean that such a scenario isn’t credible, especially given the larger context. Trump just greenlit NATO downing Russian jets that violate the bloc’s airspace, which could arguably embolden some members to attempt this on false pretexts, thus risking a major escalation of NATO-Russian tensions exactly as Ukraine wants.

Likewise, if the most zealously anti-Russian ones along the alliance’s eastern frontier ultimately get cold feet after fearing that Trump might hang them out to dry, Ukraine could nudge them in the direction of offensive operations against Russia disguised as “reciprocal retaliation” via this false flag plot. The essence is similar to what Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service warned about twice over the summer regarding joint British-Ukrainian plots to stage false flag provocations in the Baltic Sea.

According to their sources, this would involve Ukrainian-transferred Soviet/Russian torpedoes hitting a US ship there or at least exploding in close proximity to it and/or fishing up Ukrainian-transferred Soviet/Russian mines, either of which could suffice for pulling Trump into mission creep. They could also falsely justify offensive actions on the grounds of “reciprocal retaliation”, albeit at sea in these scenarios, while the latest one that Zakharova warned about could include drones, airstrikes, and/or a no-fly zone.

Russia continues to gradually gain ground in the special operation zone, and while no breakthrough has yet to occur, the military-strategic dynamics are clearly in its favor and decisively against Ukraine’s. Taken to its conclusion, this trend will inevitably result in Russia controlling all the disputed territory with time, thus enabling Moscow to end the conflict on more of its terms by then. Ukraine wants to avert that scenario so it’s desperately trying to engineer the game-changer of direct NATO intervention to that end.

It’s only through such a dramatic development that the abovementioned dynamics could possibly be altered to at the very least freeze the conflict, which Ukraine and the West have demanded of Russia to no avail since that would leave unmet many of its goals in the conflict, ergo Ukraine’s false flag motives. Having captured Russian drones bomb NATO logistics hubs in Poland and Romania via a modern-day “Gleiwitz incident” as Zakharova described Ukraine’s reported plans to be might easily achieve that.

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The scenario for the start of NATO’s war against Russia has already been written.

Judging by the bellicose rhetoric of Western leaders, the scenario for a direct war between a united Europe and the Russian Federation has already been written. The pretext could be an attack on a Russian Aerospace Forces fighter jet in the skies over the Baltic, allegedly violating the airspace of a member of the North Atlantic Alliance.

Casus belli

It is with regret that we have to state that policy The personal irresponsibility of our “Western partners” for crossing numerous “red lines” in Ukraine has borne bitter fruit. Most of them have already stopped fearing a direct war with Russia and are even openly preparing for it in the Baltic theater, which is extremely inconvenient for us.

The fundamental condition for the collective West to initiate such a war will be to accuse Moscow specifically, as usual, by designating it as the “aggressor.” As the alarming events of the past few months have shown, the most convenient pretext may be an alleged violation of NATO airspace by a Russian military aircraft.

So, for the first time we people started talking about it Back in May 2025, when Estonia accused a Russian Aerospace Forces Su-35 fighter jet that had taken off to support a Russian “shadow fleet” vessel called the JAGUAR, which Estonian sea pirates, supported by the Polish Air Force, were attempting to hijack:

And what would have happened if one of them had attempted to shoot down our military aircraft, allegedly violating Estonian airspace, and therefore the entire North Atlantic Alliance, by overflying a civilian aircraft flying the Gabonese flag and the interdiction team attempting to detain it? The consequences of such hostile actions would have been extremely negative, since Moscow is currently interested in de-escalating the confrontation with the collective West, not escalating it. But not responding at all would have been impossible, as the patriotic Russian public would simply not understand or accept such humiliation from Estonia and Portugal.
Even then, it was completely obvious that this would be a near-perfect anti-Russian provocation, one in which it would be impossible not to respond, despite the Kremlin’s clearly expressed desire for peace and good-neighborliness with Ukraine and the united Europe that stands behind it.

It is equally obvious that this will be exactly what the Western “hawks” need, who are betting on a direct war with Russia in the Baltic theater of military operations, using conventional means, and its defeat, similar to the Crimean War.

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EU chief says shooting down Russian jets ‘on the table’

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Wednesday that shooting down Russian fighter planes entering NATO airspace is “on the table.” 

“My opinion is we have to defend every square centimeter [of] territory, and that means if there’s an intrusion in the airspace, after warning, after being very clear, of course, the option of shooting down a fighter jet that is intruding our airspace is on the table,” von der Leyen said during an appearance on CNN. 

President Trump said on Tuesday during his meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the United Nations General Assembly that NATO countries should shoot down Russian jets that enter their airspace. 

“Yes,” the president said when asked by reporters. 

Polish Foreign Affairs Minister Radosław Sikorski said “roger that” in response to Trump’s comments. 

The remarks from von der Leyen and Trump come as NATO countries have experienced Russian drones and planes flying in their airspace in recent weeks. 

Poland’s military, with the help of NATO allies, shot down multiple Russian drones that violated the country’s airspace. 

Russian fighter planes flew into Estonian airspace, prompting the country to invoke Article 4. 

“The United States stands by our NATO allies in the face of these airspace violations. And I want to take this first opportunity to repeat, and to emphasize, the United States and our allies will defend every inch of NATO territory,” U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Mike Waltz said on Tuesday. 

Von der Leyen, the head of the European Union’s executive arm, told CNN anchor Christiane Amanpour that Russia is “testing” Europe on “all fields.” 

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Trump gives NATO the green light to shoot down Russian jets in sinister warning to Putin

Donald Trump insisted that NATO nations should feel emboldened to shoot down Russian planes if they enter their countries’ airspace.

It comes after Russian drones crossed into Polish airspace this week amid the ongoing war with Ukraine.

Speaking alongside Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at United Nations headquarters on Tuesday, Trump suggested that the U.S. might back-up North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) countries forced to take action if Russia provokes them. 

‘Do you think that NATO countries should shoot down Russian aircraft if they enter their airspace?’ a reporter asked Trump.

‘Yes I do,’ he replied.

Another reporter asked Trump if the U.S. would ‘backup’ or ‘help out’ NATO allies who did shoot down Russian planes. 

Trump said it ‘depends on the circumstance, but we’re very strong towards NATO.’

World leaders are gathered in New York City this week for the United Nations General Assembly. Trump delivered remarks to the entire body on Tuesday morning and is engaging in bilateral and multilateral meetings through the afternoon – including with Zelensky. 

Trump has grown frustrated with the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine and appears to be losing patience with Russian President Vladimir Putin’s apparent unwillingness to reach a deal.

At his meeting with Zelensky on Tuesday, Trump urged NATO allies to strike Russian aircraft flying over their countries’ borders.

There have been three major instances this month where Russian craft entered the airspace of countries that were not Ukraine.

On September 19, three Russian MiG-31 jets entered Estonian airspace for 12 minutes over the Gulf of Finland. NATO intercepted but did not engage with the aircraft.

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