NATO: Putin Reportedly Ordered New Operations, WSJ Says

According to the Wall Street Journal, U.S. intelligence suspects Vladimir Putin personally ordered an escalation of sabotage operations targeting NATO countries. One incident under investigation was the August 4, 2026, attempt at Leipzig-Halle Airport, where a Semtex-loaded drone struck a Ukrainian Antonov cargo plane but did not detonate. On September 1, the German government blamed Russia, and specialists reportedly traced communications to servers linked to Russia’s military intelligence agency, the GRU. Berlin reportedly considered invoking NATO Article 5 if the incident had caused casualties.