Overview
- Ukraine and Russia are trading high-volume drone and missile attacks each night, with Kyiv reporting it neutralized 109 of 116 Russian drones in the May 20–21 barrage and earlier saying it shot down 131 of 154 the night before.
- Kyiv has targeted Russian oil and military infrastructure, and Russian regions reported strikes and casualties including two deaths in Syzran near a major refinery.
- Baltic states have faced multiple incursions that forced public shelter orders in Vilnius, a NATO jet to shoot down a suspected Ukrainian drone over Estonia, and shelter alerts and jet scrambles in Latvia and Lithuania.
- Allies and Kyiv accuse Moscow of using electronic warfare to jam or spoof Ukrainian drones and redirect them into Baltic airspace, while Russia’s intelligence service has accused Latvia of hosting Ukrainian launches, an allegation Riga denies.
- The incidents have produced immediate NATO air-policing responses, strained Baltic politics and public safety, and highlighted gaps in layered counter-drone defenses and the need for deeper allied coordination on attribution and protection.