Hybrid warfare: Russia launched drones from shadow ships into European countries
A new think-tank report assesses that Russia has waged a hybrid drone campaign over some European countries, including Germany, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, the UK, and Denmark, between 2024 and 2026. Some of these drones are believed to have been launched from shadow fleet vessels.
Report claims Russia launched drones over Europe from ships
According to a new report by the think-tank International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), Russia has “highly likely” been using shadow ships to fly drones over parts of Europe.
The IISS says, “Between August 2024 and February 2026, (UAVs) were flown in the airspace of a dozen NATO member states and Ireland, forcing repeated closures of major commercial aviation hubs, disrupting military operations and penetrating the perimeters of some of Europe’s most sensitive defence installations.”
This includes nuclear-sharing sites that host US B61-12 gravity bombs and France’s ballistic-missile submarine base at Île Longue. According to reporting by ABC News, only Sweden has blamed Moscow directly of the countries that have confirmed drone sightings.
The report assesses that Russian-linked shadow fleet vessels have been used as launch and recovery platforms for these Russia-linked drones and are part of the Kremlin’s larger unconventional or hybrid war on Europe.
Aims of the drone campaign are assessed to include probing response times and decision-making thresholds, mapping vulnerabilities around critical infrastructure, imposing economic and psychological costs (e.g., airspace disruption), and normalizing low-level airspace violations.
Most serious analysts do not think Russia is able to win a conventional war with Europe (even without US help). However, they assess Russia will continue to probe, test, and attempt to fracture the alliance through hybrid tactics.
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Identifying civilian from malicious drones is hard
The report highlights that Europe’s air defence was built for conventional air threats that are easy to identify as hostile. Mass cheap drones that are difficult to distinguish from civilian drones are posing a new challenge.
It’s not just drones. AGN has reported how the US overcompensated after the media crazed frezy following the failure to intercept the Chinese spy balloon, with fighter jets shooting down boy scouts’ and $12 hobbyist balloons in 2023.
The report stresses that not every suspicious drone sighting in Europe is Russian, but that “the aggregate pattern of UAV sightings cannot be adequately explained by misidentification, hobbyist activity or opportunistic harassment alone.”
In late 2024 and early 2025, there was a craze of drone sightings in the US, including over many of the country’s sensitive air force bases.
European responses in 2025 against Russian drones
It should also be noted that the European states have not sat back passively, but have responded and have attempted to counter the new threat. That said, IISS criticizes national European responses rather than a collective response.
June Drone competition
— Vitaly (@M0nstas) June 30, 2026
Russia intercepted 11617 Ukrainian drones.
Ukraine reported 5749 Russian. https://t.co/IK5Mo71dMd pic.twitter.com/TSySGxUKTx
Drone sightings in 2025 triggered the closure of airspace in Germany, Spain, and Denmark. Some countries (like Denmark) then sought Ukrainian help in countering drones.
Some European countries (e.g., UK, France) have boarded and sometimes seized some of these shadow vessels. For example, the Associated Press reported that France boarded a shadow ship in September that was rumoured to be connected with drone launches.
France has carried out more vessel seizures since then, with the latest being last week.
IISS says that these drone operations (mostly in later 2025) were able to operate with substantial impunity across European airspace. It was during this time that AGN reported the UK was changing its laws to allow the military to intercept drones deemed to be a threat over bases.
France has fined the owner of the sanctioned tanker Tagor €1 million after the vessel, which is part of Russia's shadow fleet, was detained by the French Navy in the Atlantic Ocean in late May. pic.twitter.com/bklrMIs5oD
— UATV English (@UATV_en) July 2, 2026
Europe is rolling out the European Drone Defence Initiative (EDDI) to build a continent-wide, 360-degree counterdrone architecture, with it expected to be initially operational by the end of the year.
However, issues with the initiative remain, including that it doesn’t mandate what to do with a vessel launching drones.
Featured Image: hamara / stock.adobe.com
