Russia's war is increasingly reaching NATO territory

The offshoots of Russia's war against Ukraine have been increasingly reaching the territory of NATO member states for some time now. The shooting down of a drone over Lithuania on Tuesday night is the latest in a long series of disturbing incidents that have also occurred in Estonia, Latvia, Poland and Romania.

Until now, the danger mostly came from drones that had strayed from their intended path. Ukrainian drones intended to attack targets in northern Russia have landed several times in the Baltics.

Russia is taking ever greater risks

But at the same time it can be observed that Russia is showing a growing willingness to cause damage in NATO territory with its air strikes on Ukraine. It was only three months ago that two people were injured when a Russian drone hit a residential building in Romania. At the end of July, a Russian cruise missile fell in eastern Poland - it is unclear whether it was a miss or a deliberate provocation.

However, one thing can be certain about one thing: the Russian military is monitoring very closely what capabilities and what gaps the NATO countries' air defenses reveal. And the Kremlin is keeping an eye on political reactions. Prudence is the top priority. At the same time, it is very much to be hoped that NATO has already made preparations for a decisive response should such an incident turn out to be a deliberate provocation by Moscow.