The Kremlin <\/a>has built and expanded at least 10 new bases with at least 59 new launch rails, according to an investigation by The Telegraph<\/a> using satellite imagery and leaked documents. <\/p>\n The bases are designed to fire large numbers of jet-powered drones that can overload Ukrainian air defences as Moscow bombards military and civilian targets across the country.<\/p>\n But situated along its borders with Ukraine and Belarus, the hi-tech drones will also be able to reach Kyiv\u2019s allies in Nato, the report said. <\/p>\n Around 20 of the new launch rails, the guide tracks that are used to fire drones, have been extended in design to allow Russian forces to fire long-range attack drones, according to images analysed by drone intelligence firm DroneSec.<\/p>\n Europe and Nato have been raising the alarm over growing Russian provocations over the last year, amid concern Moscow could launch an attack to probe the alliance\u2019s borders. <\/p>\n A Nato spokesperson told The Independent that it \u201cclosely monitors Russian military activity, including its long-range strike and drone capabilities\u201d and that it has the \u201cplans, tools, authorities and forces necessary to deter aggression and defend against any threat\u201d. <\/p>\n US intelligence assessments suggested Vladimir Putin could order a limited attack on an allied country within the coming years, with possibilities ranging from a cyberattack to a small-scale incursion to test how far Moscow can go without triggering a response, officials told multiple US outlets. <\/p>\n Drone and plane incursions into Nato territory have become the norm, forcing the alliance to regularly scramble jets to deal with potential threats. On Sunday, Nato jets shot down a drone in Romania’s airspace<\/a> that it said \u201cappears to be Russian\u201d. Two days earlier, four NATO fighter jets were scrambled to shoot down a drone in Latvian airspace<\/a>. <\/p>\n Latvian authorities said that a \u201cforeign unmanned aerial vehicle\u201d had \u201cflown into Latvia as a result of Russian electromagnetic warfare\u201d. <\/p>\n The latest revelations in The Telegraph will only add to concerns the Kremlin is planning to test Nato defences. <\/p>\n Moscow is storing increasing numbers of hi-tech drones at the bases, with one having enough space for 1,000 drones, imagery reportedly showed. More launch rails are also being constructed. <\/p>\n DroneSec CEO Mike Monnik told the outlet that Russian forces \u201csignificantly expanded\u201d their drone network to drive up the threat against Nato. <\/p>\n The Nato spokesperson said the alliance is investing nearly $40 billion into counter-drone capabilities over the next five years, with allies set to train \u201cfive times as many drone operators in their Armed Forces by the end of 2027\u201d. <\/p>\n They aded: \u201cWe will continue to strengthen our resilience and enhance the tools at our disposal, ensuring that the Alliance remains ready to deter and defend every Ally.\u201d<\/p>\n Nato first shot down a Russian drone over a member state last September, when Poland said its territory had been breached 19 times in a single night<\/a>, and leading prime minister Donald Tusk to invoke Article 4, which triggering discussions on how Nato will respond as an international body.<\/p>\n Several of Russia\u2019s new drone hubs were formerly military bases and civilian airports, an indication of the ever-increasing importance of drone warfare both for Russia\u2019s four-and-a-half-year invasion and Ukraine\u2019s robust defence.<\/p>\n Kyiv\u2019s reportedly increasing use of foreign-made drones to strike increasingly deep inside Russian territory could serve for Moscow as a pretext for provocation in Nato. <\/p>\n The Times<\/a> reported on Sunday that Ukrainian forces have used British drones made by two companies to attack deep inside Russia\u2019s mainland<\/a> for the first time, striking targets such as oil refineries over the past six months. <\/p>\n Putin has previously made clear that Russia would treat this as the direct participation of Nato in the war in Ukraine. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":11032,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[4441,1141,63,4442],"class_list":["post-11031","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","tag-bestof","tag-essential","tag-horizontal","tag-topix"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/nato\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11031","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/nato\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/nato\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/nato\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/nato\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11031"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/nato\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11031\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/nato\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11032"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/nato\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11031"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/nato\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11031"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/nato\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11031"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Asovitsa-Ashelok](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/nato\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Screenshot-2026-08-17-at-1a1-24-copy-da55e43b.jpeg\")
Asovitsa-Ashelok was identified as a drone launch and storage base (Vantour)<\/p>\n![\"Satellite](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/nato\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Screenshot-202a6-08-17-at-11-23-copy-148ee60d.jpeg\")
Satellite images in Kursk airfield show storage facilities and launch rails (Vantour)<\/p>\n![\"Suicide](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/nato\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/2222364382...jpeg\")
Suicide drones such as the Shahed are fired using launch rails (AFP\/Getty)<\/p>\n