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The United States intelligence community warned several European governments of a possible Russian drone operation against Spain, France or Italy, El Mundo reported on September 24, adding to a series of recent reports alleging that Moscow could launch attacks against NATO countries.
According to the report, the alleged operation could involve Russian Gerbera one-way attack drones transported aboard merchant ships and launched from the Mediterranean.
A source close to Lithuania’s Defense Ministry told the newspaper that deploying drones from ships would be relatively straightforward. The report said Lithuanian officials had information about the type of drone that could be used and that the governments of Spain, France and Italy had been informed of a possible operation against one of them.
El Mundo said the warning was linked to CIA Director John Ratcliffe’s visit to Moscow on August 25, and described a detailed intelligence report that had circulated among European governments. The reported drone has a range of up to about 600 kilometers, according to the newspaper.
The report comes only a few days after another wave of warnings about possible Russian actions against the territory of NATO.
On September 17, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk told parliament that intelligence indicated Russia could use drones or missiles against countries supporting Ukraine, including Poland. Later, on September 20, the heads of Czech, Latvian and Swedish intelligence services told The Guardian that Russian sabotage and other hybrid activity could increase, although their assessments differed sharply over whether a direct attack on NATO was imminent.
At the same time, European officials have acknowledged that there is no immediate evidence of a Russian military attack on NATO terrirotry.
An official from the alliance told Reuters on August 30 that the alliance saw “no imminent threat of attack,” even as Russia was accused of increasing hybrid activity in Europe. Latvia’s security chief similarly said more recently there were no signs of an imminent Russian attack.
The latest El Mundo report has also faced an immediate challenge from Italy. Italian government sources told ANSA that Rome had received no warning of a planned Russian drone attack through intelligence, diplomatic or military channels. Defense Minister Guido Crosetto even said the report was “not confirmed” and warned against adding “more fuel on the fire.”
Russia has repeatedly rejected claims that it is preparing an attack on NATO or the European Union. After a September 8 phone call with President Donald Trump, Kremlin adviser Yuri Ushakov said President Vladimir Putin had emphasized that Russia had “no aggressive plans whatsoever” toward Europe. Putin also repeated on September 18 that Russia had no plans to attack Europe.
The recent warnings appear to be part of a broader media campaign meant to help sustain public and political support for continued military assistance to Ukraine and higher European defense spending.
The El Mundo report therefore adds another alleged scenario to an expanding series of warnings about possible Russian attacks, but its specific claims remain unverified and have already been disputed by at least one of the governments said to have received the warning.
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