The Russian Foreign Ministry denies that their military intentionally deployed drones into Poland and Romania during the last two weeks. Of course, they do.

As of this writing, there has been no comment from Moscow regarding the three MIG-31 fighter jets that were rapidly intercepted by NATO defense units this morning over Estonia. Will the Kremlin remain silent, or will they conjure up some lame excuse for this event as well? We shall see.

But denials and silence cannot mask a clear pattern emerging from these blatantly aggressive and increasingly frequent actions on Russia’s part. First aiming directly west into Poland, then southwest to Romania, and now northwest to Estonia, Vladimir Putin has been testing — without causing any actual casualties — NATO’s defensive capabilities and willingness to defend its member states as well as allied non-member Ukraine.

Is Putin actually hoping to incite NATO into firing a first shot, thus precipitating a “defensive” response from Russia? Let’s hope not . . . although where Putin is concerned, one can never be 100% certain. More likely, though, he is using the fear factor to induce NATO’s members to retreat from their active defense of Ukraine, and to accede to more of Moscow’s demands for a settlement of its “special military operation” in the country they baselessly claim as theirs.

And keep an eye on the Suwalki Gap — that strategic little strip of land marking the border between Poland and Lithuania, which also happens to be the only direct route between Russia’s puppet state of Belarus and the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad. (See my post of 9/15/25: “The Suwalki Gap: The Most Important Strip of Land You Probably Never Heard Of .”)

Formerly part of German East Prussia and known then as Koenigsberg, it was annexed by the Soviet Union following World War II and is now a vital military outpost containing nuclear-capable missiles and hosting Russia’s Baltic Fleet. Its importance to Russia cannot be understated.

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The incursion into Estonian airspace lasted for 12 minutes. Estonia’s Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said:

“Russia has already violated Estonia’s airspace four times this year, which in itself is unacceptable. But today’s incursion, involving three fighter aircraft entering our airspace, is unprecedentedly brazen.” [Ray Furlong and Rikard Jozwiak, RFE/RL, September 19, 2025.]

Just hours earlier, the EC had proposed a 19th package of potentially crippling sanctions on Moscow over its war in Ukraine. Referring to the drone attacks on Poland and Romania, EC President Ursula von der Leyen had this to say:

“Again and again, President Putin has escalated, and in response, Europe is increasing its pressure.” [Id.]

Donald Trump has been pressuring the EU to increase its punitive actions against Russia as a condition to his own escalation of sanctions. Those increased actions on the part of the European allies are in the works; now let’s see what Trump has to offer.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
9/19/25