NATO reported on Friday that its fighter jets successfully shot down a drone that had entered Latvian airspace. This incident marks a significant escalation in the ongoing security concerns along the alliance’s eastern border with Russia. The drone’s incursion highlights the increasing military activity in the region, which has been a focal point of tension between NATO and Russia.
The military alliance has launched an investigation, a NATO spokesperson said, as concerns grow in Europe over unauthorised drone activity as Russia’s war in Ukraine grinds on. This was the second time that such a drone had been shot down in Latvian airspace, the defence ministry confirmed to AFP. At a meeting on Wednesday, NATO allies reiterated that Russia bears full responsibility for the airspace violations, which it said are dangerous and unacceptable, and demonstrate Russia’s increasing tolerance for risk.
Earlier on Friday, Latvia’s defence ministry wrote on X that NATO “fighter jets have successfully shot down a foreign unmanned aerial vehicle that had entered Latvia as a result of Russian electromagnetic warfare”. Latvian foreign minister Baiba Braze wrote on X and thanked Italy for “maintaining the integrity of NATO airspace”. “This is… a tangible result of NATO Summit decisions in Ankara to upscale the Baltic Air Policing mission to air defence,” Lithuanian foreign minister Kestutis Budrys wrote on X, underlining that the Italian fighter jets were deployed in Siauliai, in northern Lithuania.
