Drones are making illegal incursions over nuclear power stations and UK military bases at a rate of almost three a week amid escalating tensions with Russia.

Sightings of unmanned craft above critical infrastructure and sensitive security sites since January are already higher than the previous two years.

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) told The Mail on Sunday 100 sightings were made over nuclear facilities or nuclear objects, such as submarines, between January and August of this year.

In comparison, it dealt with 69 similar incidents in the whole of 2025 and 47 the year before that. Going back further, the numbers recorded in 2020 stood at just 18.

Professor Anthony Glees, a security expert at the University of Buckingham, said it is ‘common sense’ to assume Russia is behind the rise. 

He added: ‘The obvious explanation for the increase in drone spying of our nuclear facilities is to gain intelligence useful to an enemy planning an attack on the UK, which would be the harbinger of a general war in Europe against Nato.’

While he believes Russia is the main antagonist behind the rise, he also said China and Iran could be involved in a bid to determine the UK’s ability to defend itself.

The scale of incursions comes after a report earlier this year claimed Russia was spying on Britain’s nuclear weapons.

The International Institute of Strategic Studies (IISS) reported that drones targeted the Lakenheath and Mildenhall bases in Suffolk, RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire and RAF Feltwell in Norfolk over four days in 2024.

The devices were launched from a Kremlin spy ship, the HAV Dolphin, sighted off the coast of Humberside at the time.

The security crisis resulted in specialist British troops being deployed to the bases to intercept the Russian spy drones.

Professor Glees said that while some drones are launched from ships, there are suspicions Russia and Iran are using ‘human agents’ to launch the devices as well.

He said this could even include Brits being paid to betray their own country. He added: ‘We don’t think they have any ideological attachment to Putin’s regime.’

The nuclear-specific incursions are among 340 security incidents involving drones at or near Ministry of Defence sites in the UK in the year up to August 2026.

However, military chiefs have refused to reveal the number recorded over each type of site or object and also withheld information over how many related specifically to Scotland – home to the Faslane naval base where Britain’s nuclear deterrent is housed. It said providing this information could pose a national security risk.

Launching the IISS report earlier this year, the think tank’s security expert, Charlie Edwards, said: ‘Russia has demonstrated, repeatedly, that it can penetrate the airspace of NATO members – including over nuclear sites – without triggering a collective allied response.

‘That gap between capability and political will is now a strategic vulnerability.’

The lack of any action in the face of Russia’s probes comes as Prime Minister Andy Burnham faces criticism over plans to invite Vladimir Putin to the G20 summit in Manchester. Ministers do not believe Putin will attend in person for fear that the British courts will uphold an International Criminal Court warrant for his arrest for alleged war crimes in Ukraine.

But critics warned that the presence of a high-level Russian delegation in the UK would send a signal that relations are being normalised, handing a propaganda coup to the Kremlin.

A UK Government spokesman said Russian participation in G20 meetings is ‘regrettable’ but added that it is a matter for member states who represents them at summits.

Last month, it emerged Mr Burnham was warned that Britain faces Russian retaliation over its support for Ukraine.

Security experts have told the PM to be prepared for a ‘direct response’ from Putin.

Discussing what steps the UK should take to counter the threat, Professor Glees said: ‘Andy Burnham should say, loud and clear, that from now on, any Russian ship launching drones to overfly sensitive UK military and defence industry sites will be destroyed.’

He suggested tactics such as anti-drone nets, which Russia is using over its refineries, could also be used as well as jamming them electronically.

He added: ‘We are facing a real and present national security threat and it is time Defence Secretary Wes Streeting stopped talking nice. He needs to call these incursions out for what they are, hostile spy operations, and act hard and fast to stop them.’

An MOD spokesperson said: ‘We take the rising threat posed by hostile drones extremely seriously.

‘We are committing £790 million to strengthen protection from drone and missile threats and have established new restricted airspace areas over 44 critical defence sites, extending to over 160 further sites in the autumn.’