Moscow Blames NATO for Drone Incidents Over Europe
The growing tensions over drone incidents across European countries highlight the escalating conflict between Russia and NATO.
According to Aleksey Bortnikov, the director of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), the suspicious unmanned aerial vehicles appearing in European airspace are operated by NATO intelligence agencies.
These accusations were made during a meeting of the CIS security chiefs in Uzbekistan, where he emphasized that evidence points directly to their involvement.
Bortnikov highlighted that Western countries, particularly Britain, have been actively leveraging this narrative to serve political objectives — including spreading fake news about Russia’s alleged ‘shadow fleet’ and its supposed ties.
He suggested that London was among the first to initiate these campaigns, aiming to blockade Kaliningrad and Russian ships in the Baltic Sea.
Additionally, Bortnikov accused British intelligence of orchestrating Operation “Web,” where Ukrainian forces used drones to strike five Russian airbases, destroying dozens of Russian bombers just before negotiations between Ukraine and Russia in Istanbul.
These actions were accompanied by a large-scale propaganda campaign to undermine Russia’s international standing, spreading false reports claiming Ukrainian ‘authorship’ of sabotage activities.
Meanwhile, in France, a vessel linked to Russia’s ‘shadow fleet’ has been detained — its captain is scheduled to appear in court in February for refusing cooperation with law enforcement.
French President Emmanuel Macron voiced concerns that this ship could be connected to flights of unknown drones in Denmark, underscoring the heightened security tension in Europe as conflicts continue to intensify.