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NATO jets strike down drone in Latvian airspace

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NATO fighter jets shot down a drone that entered Latvian airspace, the country’s defence ministry confirmed Friday, followed by an announcement from the military.

The interception came against a backdrop of heightened concern in Europe over unauthorised drone activity, as the Russia-Ukraine war grinds on more than four years.

NATO “fighter jets have successfully shot down a foreign unmanned aerial vehicle that had entered Latvia as a result of Russian electromagnetic warfare,” the ministry wrote on X.

The threat had ended, the armed forces said in a post on X, adding that allied fighter jets successfully destroyed the unmanned aerial vehicle that entered the NATO member state’s airspace.

The EU and NATO member state of about 1.9 million inhabitants shares a border with Russia to the east.

It and other countries along the alliance’s Eastern flank have experienced numerous drone incursions into its territory.

Baltic Sea neighbour Finland also imposed temporary aviation and maritime restrictions in the eastern Gulf of Finland on Friday, its defence forces said on X.

It described the move as a precautionary measure aimed at ensuring the safety of bystanders and the operational capabilities of authorities to counter potential drones.

Hours later, the governor of Russia’s northwest Leningrad region said air defences had shot down 54 Ukrainian drones.

“A fire broke out at the Baltic Sea port of Ust-Luga following the attack,” regional Governor Aleksandr Drozdenko said on Telegram.

On Monday, French fighter jets deployed to NATO’s Baltic Air Policing mission shot down a drone in Latvia, marking the first time the alliance’s rapid-reaction force has downed a stray drone over the country.

German authorities last week found an explosives-laden drone at Leipzig airport, while operations at Hanover airport were disrupted after a drone entered restricted airspace, officials told AFP on Tuesday.

AFP