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Transnational Thursday for September 25, 2025

Transnational Thursday is a thread for people to discuss international news, foreign policy or international relations history. Feel free as well to drop in with coverage of countries you’re interested in, talk about ongoing dynamics like the wars in Israel or Ukraine, or even just whatever you’re reading.

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Drones are being a bother around Scandinavian airports. Russian culpability is suspected.

If it was Russia, and it may well have been, given the reports that these were not typical hobby drones + they were "flown in a highly capable manner"...

Are Russia trying to send the message that they will be able to kick various Europeans right in the testicles if the war becomes hot(tter)? "We'll take down your passenger planes", and the like? "We've got agents ready to harm various undefended and under-defended soft spots"?

And/or they might be trying to make NATO countries spend on/deploy anti air defenses at home instead of in Ukraine...

Mystery drones have been lurking around airports and nuclear plants for years, prior to the war. May be Russia, may be some other source.

I'd bet a decent chunk are idiots with cheap DJI or equivalent drones not following the rules. But probably not all of them.