Russian Drone Festival Organizers Call To Prepare For ‘Great War With NATO’ As Europe Warns Of Growing Threat

Key Facts

Published: July 1, 2026 Location: Moscow Source: NewsWeek

• Organizers of Russia’s Dronnitsa drone conference say the 2026 event will focus on preparing for a “great war with NATO.”
• Russia’s war in Ukraine has turned drone warfare into a central pillar of modern combat, forcing NATO countries to race toward new counter-drone defenses.
• Western officials warn Moscow may already be waging hybrid warfare against NATO through cyberattacks, sabotage, disinformation, and threats to critical infrastructure.

The Dronnitsa conference says its 2026 mission is to reverse Russia’s setbacks in the drone war and prepare for a wider conflict, even as Moscow insists it has no plans to attack NATO.

by Emmitt Barry, Worthy News Washington D.C. Bureau Chief

(Worthy News) – Russian drone developers and operators are openly framing their next major gathering around preparation for a possible war with NATO, raising fresh concerns across Europe as the Kremlin continues to deny any intention of attacking the alliance.

Organizers of Dronnitsa, an annual Russian conference focused on drone warfare, said this year’s event will have two central goals: to “prepare for a great war with NATO” and to “turn the tide of the current drone war” in Russia’s favor, according to Newsweek. The conference is scheduled to take place in late August in Veliky Novgorod, a western Russian city situated between Moscow and NATO’s eastern flank.

The remarks come as Russia’s defense industry has shifted into wartime production, building large numbers of drones for its nearly four-and-a-half-year war against Ukraine. That conflict has become one of the most intense proving grounds for unmanned warfare in modern history, with both Russia and Ukraine using reconnaissance, strike, and first-person-view drones on a scale that has forced Western militaries to rethink battlefield doctrine.

Dronnitsa’s previous conferences have focused on training drone operators, organizing drone units, and correcting Russian battlefield mistakes. This year’s language, however, points beyond Ukraine and toward a larger confrontation with NATO—precisely the scenario Western defense officials have increasingly warned about.

Russian and Ukrainian drones have repeatedly strayed near or into NATO airspace during the war, exposing vulnerabilities in European air defenses and highlighting how unprepared many nations remain for mass drone attacks. NATO members along the eastern flank—particularly Poland, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania—have been working to accelerate counter-drone systems, but officials have warned that the threat is evolving faster than many defense bureaucracies can respond.

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte has warned that the alliance must be ready for a scale of conflict not seen in generations, saying Russia could become a direct threat if deterrence fails. Moscow has dismissed such warnings as irresponsible and insists it has no plans to attack NATO. Yet Western officials note that Russia made similar denials in the weeks before its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Latvian intelligence has reportedly assessed that Russia may be preparing for “military provocations” against the Baltic states or Poland, though not necessarily a full-scale conventional invasion. Western governments have also accused Moscow of waging a hybrid war against Europe through cyberattacks, sabotage, disinformation campaigns, and threats to critical infrastructure such as power grids and undersea cables.

For Europe, the warning is stark: Russia’s drone war in Ukraine is not merely a battlefield experiment—it is becoming a military-industrial doctrine. As Moscow pours resources into drones, artillery, armor, and electronic warfare, NATO countries are racing to close the gap before the next crisis comes.

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