<p>Russia’s ongoing campaign of hybrid attacks on Europe is raising concerns among officials in the European Union and NATO as the frequency and severity of threats increase.</p>
<p>Lithuanian Defense Minister Robertas Kaunas announced on September 15, 2026, that a Russian drone shot down by NATO fighter jets over Lithuania contained an explosive device. This discovery has heightened urgency regarding the incident, which is one of several hybrid attacks reported across Europe this week, including in Germany, Poland, and Denmark.</p>
<p>“According to the final data, an explosive device has been discovered. [Bomb diffusers] have neutralized it. Specialists will continue to investigate and analyze the drone,” Kaunas stated.</p>
<p>The drone incident is part of a broader campaign affecting multiple member states, including Denmark, where a Russian frigate fired two emergency flares at a military helicopter over the Baltic Sea.</p>
<p>The flares were discharged without prior radio communication or warning, narrowly missing the helicopter as it photographed the Russian vessel.</p>
<p>“Russia is gradually shifting the boundary for what they consider acceptable behavior,” Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said. “This is completely unacceptable and could have put human lives at risk. That is something we cannot accept.”</p>
<p>Rasmussen summoned Russian ambassador Vladimir Barbin over the incident, but Barbin contended that the helicopters were conducting “dangerous maneuvers” and “provocative actions” toward the frigate. No punitive actions have been reported.</p>
<p>Kaja Kallas, EU high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, stated that leaders must recognize these security breaches “are not accidents.”</p>
<p>“They are calculated attempts by Russia to weaken our resolve, test our unity, and play with fears of escalation,” she said. “Russia adapts itself depending on the country it is targeting.”</p>
<p>Kallas urged member states to enhance cooperation on intelligence sharing, emphasizing the need for a joint effort across the continent to address the full scope of Russian hybrid tactics.</p>
<p>On September 10, a Russian drone struck a passenger locomotive at Yahodyn railway station in Ukraine, narrowly missing trains carrying former CIA Director David Petraeus and former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.</p>
<p>“I don’t know what warped logic drove Putin to blow up a stationary Ukrainian locomotive on the Polish border this morning,” Johnson said. “What we can say for sure is that this is the kind of random and senseless attack Ukrainians are enduring every day — even on civilian railways.”</p>
<p>Multiple EU diplomats were traveling with Petraeus and Johnson as they returned to Europe after the Yalta European Strategy conference in Kyiv.</p>
<p>Lt. Gen. Jason Hinds, commander of U.S. Air Forces in Europe, indicated that Russia is testing NATO defenses from a distance to assess preparedness. He noted that the alliance’s defensive priority is “first and foremost, detecting — hopefully well before [a drone] enters NATO territory.”</p>
<p>“We want to know it. We want to know where it’s coming from. We want to have the capability to sense it,” Hinds said. “We want to be able to have the [command and control] systems to be able to decide what to do about it, and then have the right kit to be able to act.”</p>
<p>Hinds does not believe that Russia and NATO are on the brink of direct conflict, pointing out that the “small numbers” of “limited incursions” by Russian drones do not match any significant military buildup that could lead to a full-scale war. He explained that hybrid activities might be “one of the few levers that Putin has available to him” due to lacking an “advantage in geography, domain, or willingness.”</p>
<p>In Germany, authorities are searching for a drone believed to have crashed on September 12, less than a mile from a military air base in Wunstorf.</p>
<p>A Russian drone carrying explosives was found at Leipzig/Halle Airport last month, causing significant disruptions to air travel as flights were canceled and rerouted during a bomb diffusion process.</p>
<p>Poland also reported finding a drone drifting in the Baltic Sea near its northern coast on the same day, with its origins currently unclear as the aircraft is being inspected.</p>