The Story Europe’s plan to fight Putin’s drones
Oct 22, 2025
Oliver Moody, Berlin correspondent for The Times, discusses the alarming rise in drone incursions from Russia into NATO airspace. He shares insights on the September 9 incident in Poland, where NATO scrambled aircraft in response. Moody explores the evolving European defense strategies, emphasizing the need for coordinated responses and new rules for shooting down drones. He also highlights the challenges of airport vulnerabilities and Russia's use of drones as a grey zone tactic to amplify fear across Europe.
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Poland's Night Of Drone Incursions
- On September 9, sirens sounded across eastern Poland as roughly 20 drones violated Polish airspace for seven hours.
- NATO and Polish jets shot some down, marking what appears to be the first time NATO downed Russian drones over allied territory.
Costly Intercepts Vs Cheap Drones
- NATO used expensive air-to-air missiles to destroy cheap Shahed-derived drones, exposing a high cost-per-intercept problem.
- That mismatch makes conventional responses economically and operationally unsustainable.
Collateral Damage From Interceptions
- A Polish villager, Tomasz Veselowski, woke to his upper floor destroyed after something boomed during the interception effort.
- It appears a Dutch or Polish air-to missile may have accidentally struck his house while trying to hit a drone.