NATO Scrambles Fighter Jets After Drones Enter Latvia And Lithuania Airspace

NATO fighter jets were scrambled after drones were detected over Latvia and Lithuania, with Latvia and Lithuania each detecting drones in their airspace on Thursday and urging some inhabitants to seek shelter while NATO aircraft moved to intercept the devices.

“Europe faces stray Ukrainian drones as Kyiv targets Russian oil exports Ukrainian drones have recently caused concern by entering Baltic airspace, leading to tensions with NATO countries Over the past months, Ukrainian drones have crashed into the chimney of a power plant in Estonia, hit empty fuel tanks in Latvia and been shot down by Romanian fighter jets stationed in Lithuania”

ABC News

In Lithuania, military jets were searching for two drones, the country's military said, while air raid sirens were blaring in a county bordering Russian ally Belarus to alert civilians to the danger.

ABC News

The Latvian armed forces said on social media platform X that "As long as Russia's aggression in Ukraine continues, there is a possibility of repeated incidents where foreign unmanned aerial vehicles enter or approach Latvian airspace," and a military spokesperson told broadcaster Latvian Television that one drone was confirmed to have crossed into Latvia from Belarus.

The BBC reported that on Thursday Lithuania and Latvia each detected drones in their airspace and NATO fighter jets were again scrambled, after a drone entered Lithuania's airspace the day before and caused Vilnius Airport to close and residents in the capital to be sent to air raid shelters.

Russia’s accusations against Latvia escalated from the UN Security Council to threats of retaliation, with Vasily Nebenzia accusing Riga of allowing Ukraine to use its territory to prepare drone strikes against Russia without providing evidence.

France 24 reported that the Russian foreign intelligence service SVR had levelled similar accusations the day before and that Latvian Foreign Minister Baiba Braze responded on X with "Russia is lying again! This time it is the SVR or the External Intelligence Service running a disinformation campaign against Latvia," while Sanita Pavluta-Deslandes insisted at the UN that "lies and aggressive disinformation and threats are a sign of despair and weakness".

Al Jazeera

In parallel, the BBC said Kyiv apologised for the incursions while blaming Russia for redirecting the drones through the jamming of guidance signals, and Moscow accused the Baltic states of allowing Ukraine to use their airspace to strike targets in Russia.

The BBC also quoted Estonia’s foreign ministry saying "Estonia has not allowed its territory or airspace to be used for attacks against Russia," and added that European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said "Russia and Belarus bear direct responsibility for drones endangering the lives and security of people on our Eastern flank."

The drone alerts fed into political instability in Latvia, where DW reported that the fallout from a stray drone landing in eastern Latvia and hitting an oil storage facility led to the collapse of Latvia's coalition government less than a month after a previous drone incursion.

DW said Prime Minister Evika Silina fired her defense minister for his handling of the issue, then the smaller party he represented withdrew from the coalition government costing Silina her majority and forcing her resignation.

The BBC described how the repeated incidents have unsettled Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, noting that last week the government in Riga collapsed over its response to Russia-bound Ukrainian drones straying into Latvian territory and that NATO fighter jets were scrambled after air alerts were triggered several times over this week.

In response to the security threats, the BBC reported that the three Baltic presidents issued a joint statement late on Thursday calling on their Nato allies to turn their current mission of policing airspace over the Baltic states into a "comprehensive air defence mission".