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Russia deliberately flew drones into the airspace of NATO subordinate Poland this period to trial the alliance's response, stoke fatigue successful subordinate states with its warfare connected Ukraine and measurement up unit connected the West, the Ukrainian subject spy bureau said connected Friday (September 26, 2025).
It sent the written appraisal to Reuters after NATO jets downed Russian drones that entered Polish airspace connected September 9-10. This week, unidentified drones unopen down aerial postulation successful parts of Denmark.
The appraisal lone addressed the incidental successful Poland.
"Such hybrid operations apt purpose to summation unit connected Ukraine's Western partners, perchance starring to: Reduced enactment for Ukraine, particularly subject aid," the bureau wrote.
Russia denies it planned to people thing successful Poland with drones arsenic it was attacking neighbouring Ukraine. U.S. President Donald Trump said successful the contiguous aftermath that it was imaginable the drones had ended up determination by mistake.
Ukraine uses jamming and physics systems to effort to suppress and divert incoming Russian drone and rocket strikes, but the Ukrainian spy bureau said it had ruled that retired arsenic the cause.
"UAVs (drones) entered Poland not lone from Ukraine but besides from Belarus. Some UAVs penetrated up to 100 km (60 miles) into Polish territory, acold beyond the scope of Ukrainian physics warfare systems," it said.
It besides pointed to the ample fig of drones - astir 20, it estimated - progressive successful the incident. The models included the Gerbera decoy drone, the usage of which indicated that Russia had not intended to deed anything, the Ukrainian bureau said.
’Part of broader plan’
Tensions person mounted connected NATO's eastbound flank with Russia successful caller weeks. Apart from the Polish incursion, Estonia accused Russia of sending 3 combatant jets into its airspace past week, portion Romania has travel adjacent to shooting down a drone.
Earlier connected Friday, the Kremlin said that speech of shooting down Russian subject planes implicit Europe was reckless, assertive and marked a superior escalation of hostility adjacent Russia's border.
Without addressing the much caller incidents, the Ukrainian bureau said: "This incidental (in Poland) is portion of Russia's broader program to grow aggression into countries bordering Ukraine".
"It serves arsenic a informing to NATO and a trial of their effect to attacks connected subordinate states. It is besides intended to intimidate the Polish population."
It assessed determination had been 10 violations of Moldovan airspace by Russian drones this year, and that 14 drones had crashed connected Romanian territory during attacks connected adjacent larboard infrastructure successful Ukraine since 2023.
"Violations of airspace successful countries bordering Ukraine person go systematic during Russian combined aerial attacks connected Ukrainian civilian and captious infrastructure," it said.
