Russia Bets Big—NATO Airspace the Latest Table

Roll the dice, folks—Russia’s back at the NATO casino, and this time Romania’s sky got dealt a wild card. A Russian drone wandered in, marking the second “oops, did we cross a border?” in under a week. Poland just got the same surprise last week, prompting NATO jets to scramble like pit bosses chasing a cheater.

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas called it “reckless escalation,” aka stop gambling with the faith of humanity, Vlad. Over a dozen drones crashed Polish airspace before, proving the Ukraine war isn’t content staying in its own backyard—it’s hitting the big leagues now.

Romania wasn’t folding. Two F-16s were already on watch along the border after Russia hit Ukrainian infrastructure on the Danube. The drone, a Geran (Moscow’s fancy nickname for an Iranian Shahed 136), appeared 20 km southwest of Chilia Veche before disappearing like a bluff gone wrong. No towns were harmed, but Romania still called in the Russian ambassador for a serious chat.

Kallas called it another “unacceptable breach of sovereignty.” Translation: Russia just shoved all its chips onto the table, and the house—aka NATO—is not impressed.