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Latvia shoots down drone
NATO Baltic Air Policing fighter jets shot down a “foreign drone” that entered Latvia’s airspace early Friday, with Latvia’s armed forces saying it entered “as a result of Russian electromagnetic warfare” and was intercepted over the Balvi region in the east of the country.
“neutralised the potential threat over an unpopulated area”
RFI described the incident as a drone entering Letonia and being downed by “cazas de la misión de vigilancia aérea de la OTAN,” after more than 50 drones attacked the region of Leningrado and sparked a fire at the port of Ust-Luga.
Euronews reported NATO Air Command scrambled two Italian Eurofighters from Šiauliai air base in Lithuania and two Turkish F-16s from Ämari air base in Estonia to identify and intercept the threat, and said that after positive identification “one of the Italian Eurofighters neutralised the potential threat over an unpopulated area.”
France 24 confirmed the drone was destroyed after entering eastern Latvian airspace, quoting Latvia’s defence ministry on X that “fighter jets have successfully shot down a foreign unmanned aerial vehicle” that had entered as a result of Russian electromagnetic warfare.
Alerts, shelter, and blame
Latvia issued airspace alerts across eastern and southern regions and later lifted them at 4:50 a.m. local time, while CNBC said the drone was destroyed over the Balvi region by aircraft taking part in NATO’s Baltic Air patrol mission.
CNBC quoted Latvia’s armed forces describing the downed drone as “a foreign unmanned aerial vehicle” that had “flown into Latvia as a result of Russian electromagnetic warfare,” and said the threat had ended after allied fighter jets destroyed the unmanned aerial vehicle that entered the NATO member state’s airspace.
DW reported that the alert drove hundreds of worshippers gathered for the largest Catholic religious festival in northern Europe to seek shelter as mobile phone alarms sounded around 04:00, with an alert warning of threats to airspace in the Augšdaugava, Preiļi, Rēzekne, Balvi and Alūksne regions.
In parallel, RFI said Latvia’s defence ministry wrote on X that the drone “se desvió por efecto de la guerra electrónica rusa” and was intercepted over the region of Balvi, while Euronews added that NATO said allies reiterated Russia bears full responsibility for the airspace violations.
Broader NATO and regional
The drone interception came as NATO and EU member states along the alliance’s eastern flank faced repeated drone incursions, and Euronews said NATO allies gathered on Wednesday to discuss recent drone incursions and incidents while signalling “full solidarity with and support for the affected Allies.”
“full solidarity with and support for the affected Allies”
Euronews also said NATO Air Command later announced that two Italian Eurofighters and two Turkish F-16s were scrambled from Šiauliai and Ämari to identify and intercept the threat, and that further airspace threats were identified in the municipalities of Augšdaugava, Preiļi, Rēzekne, Balvi, and Alūksne before ending.
France 24 tied the incident to heightened concern in Europe over unauthorised drone activity as the Russia-Ukraine war grinds on in its fifth year, and said the EU and NATO member state of about 1.9 million inhabitants shares a border with Russia to the east.
RFI linked the episode to a wider pattern of drone warfare crossing the NATO border, stating that “La guerra de drones vuelve así a cruzar, aunque de forma accidental, la frontera de la OTAN,” and added that on Monday French aircraft deployed in NATO’s Baltic air policing mission had downed another drone in Latvia.
