NATO scrambled fighter aircraft in Romania and Poland on Sunday after a Russian military drone was detected over Romanian territory, officials said, marking a new flare-up in tensions tied to Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Romania’s defence ministry said two F-16 fighters from the 86th Air Base in Fetești intercepted and tracked a Russian drone that was monitored about 12 miles southwest of Chilia Veche before vanishing from radar. The ministry said the drone “did not fly over populated areas and did not pose an immediate threat to the safety of the population.” Ukrainian officials, however, said the same drone had flown in NATO airspace for roughly 50 minutes, calling the incident “an obvious expansion of the war.”
Poland also activated fighter jets and sounded civil-defense sirens after reporting Russian drones near its border with Ukraine, according to Warsaw. The move came days after dozens of Russian drones briefly entered Polish airspace in a separate incident, illustrating mounting concerns in NATO capitals about Moscow’s cross-border operations and the risks of miscalculation.
The NATO responses on Sunday coincided with a series of Ukrainian strikes inside Russia, which Kyiv said hit defence-related and energy infrastructure hundreds of miles from the front line. Ukrainian forces said they struck the Metafrax Chemicals plant in Gubakha in Perm region, a facility Kyiv has described as producing precursors for explosives used by the Russian military. Ukrainian officials said the strike triggered explosions and fires; the plant is more than 1,000 miles from the nearest Ukrainian-held territory.
Footage circulating on social media and shared by Ukrainian accounts also showed what Kyiv said was a strike by a Ukrainian drone on the Novo-Ufimsky oil refinery in Ufa, some 870 miles from the front. Russian media and officials reported fires at the Kirishi refinery in Leningrad region after what Russian sources called a Ukrainian attack; Kirishi is one of Russia’s largest refineries and has a reported capacity of roughly 21 million tons per year.
Ukrainian officials have carried out a campaign in recent months to disrupt Russian oil refining and logistics, an effort they say aims to degrade Moscow’s fuel supplies for its armed forces. Russian regions have reported fuel shortages and price increases following repeated strikes on refineries and transport links.
The latest incidents came amid large-scale Russian military exercises, Zapad-2025, during which Moscow deployed Iskander-M short-range ballistic missile launchers to Kaliningrad. The Iskander-M system, which can carry conventional or nuclear warheads, has an estimated range of about 310 miles, placing several NATO capitals within striking distance of the enclave, analysts say. State-run footage also showed the Russian warship Admiral Golovko launching a Tsirkon hypersonic missile in the Barents Sea during the drills.
The strikes deep inside Russia and the incursions into NATO airspace have heightened concerns about escalation from both sides. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called on the United States for tougher action to “halt Russia’s war machine,” saying in televised remarks that the drone incursions and other cross-border actions reflect decisions taken at the highest levels in Moscow and serve as a warning to all of Europe.
On the battlefield and behind the scenes, both sides reported further incidents. Ukrainian authorities said an ammunition consignment exploded while being moved by rail near Kalynivka in Kyiv region, causing infrastructure damage and disrupting rail services. Russian regional reports said a bomb on a mainline near Oryol killed two National Guard officers and produced major train delays. There were also Russian reports of ballistic-missile strikes on the city of Dnipro.
NATO officials have repeatedly said they will defend allied territory and are monitoring any violations closely, while seeking to avoid direct military confrontation with Russia. The alliance has stepped up air policing and other defensive measures in eastern member states since the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, and the latest incursions have renewed calls among allies for heightened vigilance and coordination.
The incidents underscore the widening geographic scope of the conflict and the challenges facing NATO as Moscow tests allied responses. Diplomatic and military officials in Europe and the United States have not publicly detailed any new policy decisions taken as a result of Sunday’s events, but leaders in Kyiv and several NATO capitals have urged continued support for Ukraine and increased measures to deter further cross-border actions by Russia.