dozens of flights were cancelled and thousands of passengers left stranded on the eve of a German national holiday and the famous Oktoberfest. A week earlier, Copenhagen and Aalborg airports were closed following sightings of unmanned aerial systems in Danish airspace. In the month since a swarm of Russian drones violated Polish airspace — three were shot down — a rash of similar incidents has been reported across Germany, the Baltic and Nordic countries, often over power plants and military bases.
Dutch military photos showed an F-35 stealth fighter sporting a fresh drone-shaped kill mark after the advanced jet was used to shoot down Russian drones that violated alliance airspace. The images from the Netherlands' defense ministry show the marking on the fuselage, just below the cockpit. The marking, not displayed on other F-35 fighter jets, distinctly resembles the triangular Delta-wing one-way attack drones Russia uses.
Experts believe that any effective strategy to address the incursions must be focused on deterring Russian President Vladimir Putin. And despite earlier promises to impose stricter sanctions on Russia if President Putin does not end the war in Ukraine, President Donald Trump now says that the U.S. will only carry through with those sanctions if NATO member states do the same and end all purchases of Russian oil.
Poland deployed air force jets for the second time in a week, alerted residents and closed Lublin airport near the Ukrainian border because of drones flying in its neighbor's airspace, its Operational Command said in a post on X. Separately, Romanian fighter jets were launched as Russia attacked Ukrainian territory near the nations' shared border near the Danube River. A UAV was detected inside Romania's airspace, the defense ministry said.
After Russian drones were shot down over Poland this week, there are renewed calls to boost Germany's air defense. Meanwhile, Bayer Leverkusen are looking to reboot their Bundesliga season under a new coach. DW has more. The German army reportedly only has 18 Skyranger air defense turrets not enough, say politicians. What you need to know Politicians call for German air defense boost after Russian drones shot down over Poland
Evidence from the debris (most of the drones were shot down) indicates they were Gerbera models, designed for surveillance or as decoys. That is, they are used either to shoot aerial videos of targets on the ground or to prod Ukrainians or their allies to turn on their radar and mobilize air defenses, so Russia can track precisely how those systems operate-or gauge whether those countries' air forces react at all.
