NewsTracker Answers for week of Sep. 22, 2025

Q: Estonia said three Russian fighter jets crossed into its territory without permission last week. It was the third time in less than two weeks that Russian aircraft violated the territories of member nations of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), a military alliance of 30 European countries with the United States and Canada. Where is Russia?

Circle the area on this map

Q: NATO jets shot down three of 19 Russian drones that crossed Poland’s eastern border with which close Russian ally?

A. Albania

B. Belarus

C. Croatia

D. Slovenia

B. The swarm of Russian drones came from Belarus over seven hours on the night of Sept. 9-10. Russia denied its unmanned military aircraft entered Poland, and President Donald Trump said the incursion may have been a mistake. But, Poland’s prime minister said it wasn’t a mistake, “and we know it.” Russia has listed Albania, Croatia, and Slovenia among “unfriendly nations.”

Q: The drone incursion was the first time since World War II that the Polish armed forces were mobilized to fight off a threat to their country. World War II in Europe started when Germany and which other nation invaded Poland?

A. Austria

B. Czechoslovakia

C. Finland

D. Soviet Union

D. Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union signed a non-aggression treaty in 1939 and secretly agreed to divide control over parts of Europe. A week later, Germany invaded Poland from the west, triggering the war. About two weeks later, the Russian-dominated Soviet Union invaded Poland from the East. The peace pact fell apart in 1941 when Germany invaded the Soviet Union.

Q: NATO member Romania reported Russian drones crashing into its territory and into neighboring Moldova after a recent attack on Ukraine. Which nation got control of Moldova in the 1939 secret agreement?

A. Nazi Germany

B. Soviet Union

B. Joseph Stalin’s deal with Adolf Hitler promised the Soviets control of Moldova, half of Poland, Estonia, Latvia, and Finland. Germans were promised half of Poland and Lithuania. The Soviets failed to take over Finland.

Q: At the end of World War II, Soviet troops occupied nearly all of Eastern Europe and dominated the region more than 40 years until the Soviet Union weakened and fell apart in 1991. How many former Soviet “satellite states” and “republics” have joined NATO?

A. 5

B. 10

C. 15

D. 20

C. Nearly half the member nations of the NATO alliance were once dominated by Soviet rulers in Moscow. Another two joined NATO after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. NATO was formed as a mutual defense alliance by 12 nations in 1949 to counter Soviet power. Since 1991, new members have sought protection from Russia.