Overview

• Poland and Romania reported airspace violations by multiple Russian drones, triggering alerts and NATO air responses including scrambles under the new mission.
• Operation Sentinella dell’Est is underway with initial pledges that include French Rafale already scrambled on Sept. 13, UK Typhoon patrols over Poland, Danish F-16s and a frigate, and German Eurofighters, while Italy and Sweden signaled readiness but Rome says no formal request has arrived.
• Italy’s defense minister Guido Crosetto warned the country is not prepared for a major attack and urged faster rearmament, as officials weigh a potential addition of two Eurofighters and an extended SAMP/T deployment that has not been requested or approved.
• Poland tightened security after a drone was neutralized over government buildings in Warsaw and two Belarusian citizens were arrested, and Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski asked NATO to consider a no-fly zone over Ukraine as a proposal.
• The Kremlin escalated rhetoric with Dmitry Peskov declaring NATO ‘de facto already at war’ and Dmitry Medvedev warning that authorizing allies to shoot down Russian drones over Ukraine would amount to war, while Ukraine continued deep strikes on Russian refineries, a chemical plant, and key rail lines to disrupt logistics.