| Date | 8 Sep 2026 |
| Tracker | European Airspace Violations |
| Type | Strike |
| Location |
Mihaileni Vechi, Moldova
48.04, 27.62 (approximate) |
A drone identified by the Moldovan Defence Ministry as a Shahed type entered Moldovan airspace from the direction of Ukraine at 16:20 local time on 8 September 2026, passed west of Chisinau and crossed into Romania about 30 km south-east of Iasi at 16:37. Romania's defence ministry tracked it inland to 18 km north of Roman before losing contact at 17:02; RO-Alert warnings went out in five counties, Iasi airport suspended movements and two Spanish F/A-18s on NATO air policing scrambled without engaging. Back over Moldova at 17:08, it came down near Mihaileni Vechi, in the Riscani district, starting four fires but injuring nobody. Moldovan police said the fragments had Geran-type characteristics, and the government said the airspace closure had delayed three departures, including the Ukrainian president's.
| Date | Type | Incident |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Sep 2026 | Incursion | Drone crosses Latvia at Alūksne and flies on into south-eastern Estonia |
| 1 Sep 2026 | Strike | Drone carrying explosives found in a Vaslui field thirty kilometres inside Romania |
| 12 Sep 2026 | Strike | Drone crosses Moldova into Romania and comes down in a Suceava cornfield |
| 14 Sep 2026 | Incursion | Two drones cross Moldovan airspace at Palanca and Cioburciu within the hour |
GlobalMilitary.net's 2026 inventory snapshot shows nine NATO members — Iceland, Luxembourg, the three Baltic states, Montenegro, Albania, North Macedonia and Slovenia — hold no fixed-wing fighters, attack aircraft or bombers and depend on Allied air policing.
GlobalMilitary.net's incident log counts 45 established violations of European airspace between January 1 and August 16, 2026, against 31 for the whole of 2025 - and almost all of the growth sits in incidents that ended with a shootdown or an explosion on the ground.
An Italian Eurofighter on NATO Baltic Air Policing duty destroyed an unidentified drone over eastern Latvia before dawn on 14 August, the second time the alliance's quick-reaction force has shot one down over the country this year.