NATO’s mission is to defend every inch of its members’ territory, the alliance’s mantra goes. Then, on 29 May, a Russian drone hit a Romanian block of flats, injuring two people. Now Nato faces a dilemma: if it doesn’t react, it signals that adversaries can hit Nato with impunity as long the harm is, in the scheme of things, insignificant. If it does hit back, it risks full-scale war. This dilemma is precisely why Russia is so cavalier about minor incursions.
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Sam Leith
Nicola Sturgeon is no victim
In the early hours of 29 May, a Russian drone whizzed through Ukrainian airspace and entered Romanian territory, where it hit a block of flats in the port city of Galati. A mother and child were injured in their home. It remains unclear whether Romania was the intended target or whether the drone strayed across the border after encountering Ukrainian drone defences.
