Dmitry Medvedev, a close ally of President Vladimir Putin and deputy chairman of Russia's Security Council, warned that any effort by NATO countries to shoot down Russian drones over Ukraine would amount to a direct war between the alliance and Moscow.
In a post on Telegram, Medvedev said attempts to introduce a no-fly zone over Ukraine or to empower NATO members to engage Russian unmanned aerial vehicles "would mean only one thing — a war between NATO and Russia." He also wrote that he was "amused" by a newly announced European plan to help Poland defend its airspace after a series of cross-border drone incidents.
The warning came after NATO and several European governments moved to bolster defences near Poland following what Warsaw described as an unprecedented incursion of Russian drones into its airspace. NATO leaders announced that France, Germany and Denmark would contribute to a so-called "Eastern Sentry" mission to reinforce Polish air defences. The UK Ministry of Defence said it was "fully committed to playing our part" and would provide details soon.
Poland accused Russia of deliberately testing NATO's response after some drones crossed into Polish territory last week. Romania reported scrambling jets when it detected a Russian drone breach of its airspace late Saturday, and Polish officials said helicopters and aircraft were deployed as Russian drones struck targets in Ukraine close to the border.
Poland's foreign minister, Radosław Sikorski, urged NATO to consider shooting down Russian drones and missiles over Ukraine if necessary, telling Germany's Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung that the decision could not be made by Poland alone but only in coordination with allies.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky described the incursions as "an obvious expansion of the war by Russia" and called for fresh sanctions and a collective defence system. He warned NATO partners not to wait for more damage before taking decisive action. In a nightly address, Zelensky said Ukrainian forces were still advancing in parts of northern Sumy region and that commanders reported significant Russian losses in Donetsk and Kharkiv regions along a long frontline.
The developments have sharpened diplomatic and military calculations in Europe. The European Commission is reportedly examining legal routes to channel billions of euros of frozen Russian assets to Ukraine without formally expropriating them. Nearly 200 billion euros of Russian assets have been frozen since the 2022 invasion, and Kyiv faces an estimated 8 billion euro budget shortfall next year.
In Washington, former US president and 2024-2028 administration figure Donald Trump said he was prepared to impose heavier sanctions on Russia, provided other NATO members agreed and stopped buying Russian oil. In a post to his social network, he said he was "ready to do major sanctions on Russia when all NATO nations have agreed, and started, to do the same thing, and when all NATO nations stop buying oil from Russia." He also criticized current European oil purchases from Moscow as weakening their negotiating position.
The situation on the ground in Ukraine remains fluid. Moscow has continued a slow push across eastern Ukraine, with regular Russian statements about captured villages and positional gains on the edges of administrative regions. Russia has declared the annexation of four regions it partially occupies — Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson — and reports indicate fighting and mutual claims of territorial shifts in Dnipropetrovsk, Sumy, Donetsk and Kharkiv areas.
Ukraine's military has reported repelling assaults in several directions, including near Kupiansk and around Pokrovsk, while Russia-appointed authorities in occupied areas have said their forces are conducting pincer movements around villages near those towns. Regional officials in Kherson reported civilian casualties from shelling and drone attacks in separate incidents.
NATO officials have sought to strike a balance between reinforcing allied air defences and avoiding direct military confrontation with Russia. Alliance members have pledged additional aircraft and materiel for Poland's protection but have not adopted a blanket policy of shooting down Russian drones over Ukraine or NATO territory. Medvedev's statement frames such a shift in rules of engagement as escalating to open conflict between Russia and NATO.
Analysts say the exchanges illustrate the narrow margin between deterrence, defence and direct confrontation as the airspace over and near Ukraine becomes increasingly contested. NATO leaders face domestic and alliance-wide pressure to demonstrate deterrence while managing the risks of actions that Moscow has warned could cross a threshold into broader war.