Belgium has asked for help from allied armed forces to detect and neutralize drones that are systematically violating airspace over airports, military bases and even a nuclear power plant. According to Belgian authorities, although there is no evidence, everything bears the "fingerprints of Russian involvement", reports "Reuters".
Last Tuesday, "Brussels" airport - the busiest in the country - was closed for several hours after drones were detected in the area. Similar incidents were also recorded over the Liege cargo airport, as well as over a military airbase, forcing authorities to temporarily suspend flights.
"We're not saying it's Russia. We're saying it looks like Russia. "It is impossible to link a specific incident to a specific perpetrator - we have no evidence," said a Belgian official source, who requested anonymity.
The Belgian army and security services are already working with international partners to find the source of the drones and try to capture at least one of them for technical analysis.
The Russian embassy in Brussels denied any involvement, saying that Moscow "has neither a motive nor an interest in carrying out such actions."
Defense Minister Theo Franken told Het Laatste Nieuws that there were "reasonable assumptions" that Russia was behind the operations, but admitted: "I cannot prove it."
He said Belgium was under increased surveillance because Brussels is home to the Euroclear depository, where Russian assets worth hundreds of millions of euros are blocked. billions of euros. The EU plans to use some of it to finance Ukraine, prompting sharp warnings from Moscow of a "painful response".
French, German and British anti-drone teams have already arrived in Belgium. Among them are about 20 specialists from the Royal Air Force of Britain, equipped with systems for electronic jamming of the control signals of the drones.
"We do not know and the Belgians do not yet know where these drones are coming from, but we will help them with our means and expertise", General Richard Knighton, the head of the British armed forces, told the BBC.
According to Belgian officials, in some cases large drones have been seen flying in formation, which suggests that they are being operated by highly trained operators, not amateurs.
On Friday, the Belgian government approved 50 million euros for systems to detect and neutralize drones, but it is not yet clear when the equipment will be delivered and put into operation.