Over the past three weeks, Russia has intensified a series of provocations in Europe: drones have been detected by European countries, planes over Estonia, and airports, including Heathrow, have been targeted by cyberattacks. Experts suggest that Europe strengthen its own air defense, in particular by creating a system over western Ukraine to intercept Russian missiles and drones. This is reported by The Telegraph, writes UNN.
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The Telegraph article states that these actions by the Russians in recent days have become a kind of test of NATO's readiness to defend its airspace and demonstrate Moscow's strategic ambitions to rewrite European security.
These missions were tests. They were designed to confirm the hypothesis that NATO, particularly the United States, does not have the will to respond decisively to violations of its airspace.
Despite numerous drone interceptions over Poland, the allies' success in countering them was lower than that of the Ukrainian Air Force. Experts note that the time and context of these incidents are more important than the facts themselves.
Russia's strategic goal, according to analysts, is to create a "new European security architecture" and restore its influence over part of the continent, which implies, among other things, the destruction of Ukraine's sovereignty and the potential collapse of NATO.
Sending high-speed aircraft into Estonian airspace and drone incursions over Poland, Romania, and Denmark are Russian missions designed to determine how European countries behave in the event of war.
Western experts suggest that Europe strengthen its own air defense, in particular by creating a system over western Ukraine to intercept Russian missiles and drones with the prospect of extending it to Kyiv.
This would demonstrate that Europe is determined enough to fight back against aerial incursions and take some risk to do so.
Reuters emphasizes that such measures can strengthen Ukraine's defense capabilities and send a clear signal to Putin: if Russia creates dilemmas for the West, Europe is capable of doing the same in response. NATO leaders will discuss these issues at a meeting in Copenhagen, where the strategy for further response will be determined.