Denmark was compelled to shut its northern Aalborg airport on Wednesday when unidentified drones were detected in its airspace. This follows Monday’s sighting of drones near Copenhagen’s airport. Drones have been later detected close to a number of different airports on Thursday as effectively.
Whereas the supply of those drones has not been formally confirmed, the unmanned aerial automobiles (UAVs) which crossed into Polish and Romanian airspace earlier this month have been recognized as Russian.
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In the meantime, Estonia additionally claimed Russian plane entered its airspace.
Here’s a nearer take a look at the sightings throughout Europe and whether or not Russia could be intentionally testing NATO boundaries.
Which nations have reported airspace incursions?
Denmark
Early on Thursday, Danish authorities reported that “multiple” drone had been noticed close to Aalborg airport within the Jutland area of northern Denmark.
The airport is used for each business and navy flights, and its closure disrupted navy operations, based on the police.
The Danish police mentioned the drone sightings in Aalborg adopted an identical sample to those who halted flights at Copenhagen airport for 4 hours on Monday, when a number of massive, unidentified drones have been noticed close to the capital’s airport.
“It’s too early to say what the purpose of the drones is and who’s the actor behind,” the Danish police advised the Reuters information company.
The Danish armed forces mentioned they have been aiding native and nationwide police with the investigation.
On Thursday, police mentioned the drones had left Aalborg airspace, however extra drone sightings had been reported close to airports in Esbjerg, Sonderborg and Skrydstrup in western Denmark.
“It actually doesn’t appear like a coincidence. It appears to be like systematic. That is what I might outline as a hybrid assault,” Defence Minister Troels Lund Poulsen advised reporters.
Poulsen added that Denmark doesn’t contemplate itself to be dealing with a direct navy menace. He didn’t straight identify Russia as accountable for the drones.
Poland
On September 9 and early on September 10, NATO and Polish forces scrambled to shoot down Russian drones which had entered the European nation’s airspace throughout a Russian aerial assault on Ukraine, which shares its northwestern border with Poland.
Poland quickly shut down a minimum of three of its airports, together with Warsaw’s Chopin airport, the nation’s largest, and suggested folks to remain at dwelling whereas the operation continued.
“Throughout in the present day’s assault by the Russian Federation on targets in Ukraine, our airspace was repeatedly violated by drones,” the Polish navy’s Operational Command mentioned in a press release.
An operation was performed to gather particles from the drones that had been shot down.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk confirmed that the drones have been from Russia, saying in a televised assertion: “We’re coping with a large-scale provocation … We’re able to repel such provocations. The scenario is severe, and nobody doubts that we should put together for varied eventualities.”
Romania
The Southeastern European nation has reported particles from Russian drones falling into its territory because the conflict in Ukraine started in February 2022.
On September 13, it despatched two F-16 jets and two Eurofighters to intercept a Russian drone which had breached its airspace throughout a Russian assault on Ukraine, the Romanian Ministry of Nationwide Defence mentioned. It suggested residents to take cowl.
The Defence Ministry reported that the jets had chased the drone till “it disappeared from the radar” close to the Romanian village of Chilia Veche, which is near the border with Ukraine.
Estonia
Estonia’s Ministry of International Affairs mentioned three Russian fighter plane entered its airspace on September 19.
International Minister Margus Tsahkna mentioned Russia had violated Estonian airspace 4 instances in 2025, however the incursion “involving three fighter plane coming into our airspace, is unprecedentedly brazen”.
How has NATO responded?
On September 10, NATO Secretary-Common Mark Rutte mentioned in relation to the Polish airspace incursion: “Our air defences have been activated and efficiently ensured the defence of NATO territory, as they’re designed to do.”
Missile and defence methods from a number of NATO allies, together with Dutch F-35s, Italian AWACS jets, NATO’s Multi Function Tanker Transport Functionality plane and German Patriot defence methods, have been concerned within the response to the drones, Rutte reported.
He mentioned NATO had convened to debate the scenario following Poland’s request for consultations below Article 4 of the NATO Treaty, which spans 14 articles. Article 4 of the treaty permits any member nation to request pressing consultations with the alliance if it feels its safety or territorial integrity is threatened.
It additionally serves because the precursor to activating Article 5, which decrees that an armed assault on one NATO member needs to be thought of an assault on all members of the alliance.
“Allies expressed solidarity with Poland and denounced Russia’s reckless behaviour,” Rutte mentioned, including that it’s clear that the “violation” was “not an remoted incident”.
NATO once more met on September 23 on the request of Estonia, based on a press release launched by the alliance.
“Russia bears full accountability for these actions, that are escalatory, danger miscalculation and endanger lives. They have to cease,” the NATO assertion mentioned.
Is Russia ‘testing’ the West?
Ukrainian officers declare Russia’s incursions into different nations’ airspace are deliberate.
“Putin simply retains escalating, increasing his conflict, and testing the West,” Andrii Sybiha, Ukraine’s overseas minister, posted on X on September 10 after the drones have been noticed in Poland.
Russian drones flying into Poland through the huge assault on Ukraine present that Putin’s sense of impunity retains rising as a result of he was not correctly punished for his earlier crimes.
Putin simply retains escalating, increasing his conflict, and testing the West. The longer he faces no…
— Andrii Sybiha 🇺🇦 (@andrii_sybiha) September 10, 2025
“The Russian navy is aware of precisely the place their drones are headed and the way lengthy they’ll function within the air. Their routes are at all times calculated,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote on X on September 13 after the drones entered Romanian airspace.
“It’s an apparent enlargement of the conflict by Russia – and that is precisely how they act,” he added.
Right now, Romania scrambled fight plane due to a Russian drone in its airspace. In accordance with present information, the drone penetrated about 10 kilometers into Romanian territory and operated in NATO airspace for round 50 minutes. Additionally in the present day, Poland responded militarily to the…
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) September 13, 2025
Different NATO allies have additionally claimed the incursions have been deliberate.
“There’s undoubtedly no motive to suspect that this was a course correction, a mistake, or something like that,” German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius advised lawmakers. “They wouldn’t have needed to take this path to fly to Ukraine.”
Nevertheless specialists in drone warfare say it’s nonetheless attainable that the incursions weren’t deliberate.
“Are these drone incursions deliberate? I don’t imagine they essentially are,” Marina Miron, a postdoctoral researcher at King’s School London, advised Al Jazeera.
Drones on autopilot are programmed with particular goal coordinates of their system so in the event that they lose the GPS sign, they “have no idea the place to go”. “In lots of circumstances, they actually fall from the sky. They fly someplace till they run out of gasoline.”
The jamming of enemy drone GPS indicators is a standard tactic utilized by each Russia and Ukraine, Miron defined.
Russia additionally makes use of low-cost “decoy” drones referred to as Gerbera drones, which may be simply jammed, to overwhelm Ukraine’s air defence system, she added. These have been the drones that have been discovered to have been used within the Polish incursion.
How has Russia responded to the costs?
Moscow has denied intentionally attacking any of the European nations, as a substitute accusing them of constructing false allegations to trigger tensions.
After Russian drones entered Polish airspace, the Russian Ministry of Defence mentioned its drones had focused navy amenities in western Ukraine and that there have been no plans to strike places in Poland.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov additionally claimed that NATO and Ukraine “accuse Russia of provocations each day, more often than not with out even attempting to current a minimum of some sort of argument”.
“The facet that takes a severe, accountable place shouldn’t give you such unfounded accusations,” he advised the Russian information company Tass on Tuesday.
The following day, Peskov once more mentioned the allegations that Russian drones had violated NATO airspace have been “unfounded” and “we hear such exaggerated hysteria about our navy pilots allegedly violating some guidelines and invading somebody’s airspace”.
How has Trump responded to those reviews?
United States President Donald Trump has been attempting to carry negotiations to carry an finish to the conflict in Ukraine since he assumed workplace in January this yr. A summit he held with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska in August failed to provide a peace settlement, nevertheless.
Earlier this month, Trump advised reporters that the drones coming into Polish airspace “may have been a mistake”. This earned him rebuke, and Tusk responded, saying Poland knew it was not a mistake.
He appeared to have modified his stance when requested after a gathering with Zelenskyy on the sidelines of the United Nations Common Meeting (UNGA) this week whether or not he believed NATO nations ought to shoot down Russian plane that enter their airspace. Trump told reporters: “Sure, I do.”
What occurs subsequent?
On Friday, defence ministers from a number of European nations will meet to debate establishing a “drone wall” to guard in opposition to additional incursions. Denmark will be part of this dialogue.
European Fee President Ursula von der Leyen additionally referred to as for a drone wall earlier this month.
