The flock of Russian drones that entered Poland from Belarus this past week was a sharp reminder of how easily the war in Ukraine could spread rapidly into mainland Europe. Europe is a continent already on the edge. Russia is attacking Ukraine at an unprecedented scale. Russia is now spending nearly 7 percent of its gross domestic product on the military and training schoolchildren in basic martial skills. There is widespread uncertainty about what President Trump’s commitment to Ukraine, NATO and European security really is. Polish, Ukrainian and many Western officials believe the Russian drone barrage was intentional. It was to test Europe and NATO’s defences. Russia was also sending a reminder to European leaders that their idea of sending troops to Ukraine as a security guarantee against Russian intervention would be very risky. n18oc_world n18oc_crux