Russia uses drones to probe NATO defenses, German general says
- Gen. Carsten Breuer, Germany's top military officer, said Russia is systematically using drones to probe European air defenses and find weaknesses to exploit.
- Breuer said Russia is "already shifting its economy and military to prepare for a wider conflict with the West" even as it fights a war in Ukraine.
- Breuer said hybrid attacks are taking place every day in NATO countries, especially on the alliance's eastern flank, and that Russia "is testing us and looking at how we respond."
- German police on Thursday disarmed an explosive-laden drone discovered near a Ukrainian cargo plane at an airport in eastern Germany, a device Germany's interior minister said represented "a new level of danger."
- Breuer's assessment anchors Germany's first military strategy since the end of World War II, which asserts broader German leadership for European security.
