Russian drones enter EU airspace during attack on western Ukraine - ISW
ISW warns of a dangerous trend (illustrative photo: RBC-Ukraine collage)
Strikes on border crossings in western Ukraine, drones over Moldova and Romania, and evacuations in Poland are not a coincidence but part of a single Kremlin strategy, according to a report by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).
On the night of September 24, the Chernivtsi region came under attack during a combined Russian aerial assault. Four Russian drones flew over Bukovyna and targeted border crossings with Moldova and Romania. Three of them were shot down by Ukrainian air defense, while another continued toward Romania's Suceava County.
At the same time, Russian drones violated the airspace of neighboring countries.
In Moldova, a Gerbera-type drone crashed in the village of Cernita. In Romania, an unidentified aircraft remained in the country's airspace for four minutes and crashed near Solca. Geolocated footage confirmed that it was also a Russian-made Gerbera drone.
In Poland, personnel and civilians were evacuated from the Zosin and Dorohusk border crossings for 30 minutes due to Russian attacks near the Ukrainian-Polish border.
ISW analysts stressed that both deliberate and "accidental" violations of the airspace of Moldova and NATO countries are a deliberate Kremlin attempt to normalize border violations by making them increasingly frequent. According to the experts' assessment, Russia's aggressive actions against Europe could intensify significantly in the near future.
Yesterday, an enemy drone struck a residential high-rise building in Khmelnytskyi, shattering windows and damaging balconies and cars parked outside the building. There were no casualties.
A massive attack on western Ukraine also disrupted Ukrzaliznytsia (Ukraine's state railway operator) schedules, with delays on several trains traveling in that direction exceeding six hours.
