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Fighter jets operating under NATO’s Baltic Air Policing mission shot down a “foreign drone” in Latvian airspace on Friday, according to the country’s military.
In a statement, the Latvian armed forces said the drone had entered Latvia “as a result of Russian electromagnetic warfare” and that it was intercepted over the Balvi region in the east of the country.
The military has deployed additional air defence units to Latvia’s eastern borders and will continue to monitor its airspace, it said.
“As long as Russia’s aggression in Ukraine continues, a recurrence of cases where foreign drones enter or approach Latvian airspace is possible,” the military added in its statement.
Further airspace threats were identified in the municipalities of Augšdaugava, Preiļi, Rēzekne, Balvi, and Alūksne, but these have since ended.
The latest interception follows mounting drone incursions into NATO airspace along the alliance’s eastern flank, which remains particularly vulnerable to security challenges arising from Russia’s war in Ukraine, which began after Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of the country in February 2022.
In July, Romanian fighter jets shot down three drones over just three days amid a surge in drone-related incidents in the country. The Romanian Prosecutor General’s Office determined that at least one of the intercepted drones was of the Shahed-type used by Russian forces in its war against Ukraine, officials have said.
Romanian military divers also destroyed two Gerbera-type drones in the Black Sea on Tuesday, close to the Neptun Deep gas project.
“To ensure the safety of the shipping lane and the work being carried out around the platform, the decision was taken to carry out a controlled destruction by detonation,” Romanian Defence Minister Radu Miruță said at the time.
In June, a Ukrainian sea drone exploded in the Romanian port of Constanta after the Ukrainian military said it had veered off course as a result of Russian electronic warfare interference.
Another drone exploded close to a compressor station of the Trans-Balkan gas pipeline in Bulgaria last week.
NATO allies gathered on Wednesday to discuss the recent drone incursions and incidents, signalling their “full solidarity with and support for the affected Allies.”
“Allies reiterated that Russia bears full responsibility for the airspace violations, which are dangerous and unacceptable, and demonstrate Russia’s increasing tolerance for risk,” NATO said in a statement, adding that it “stands ready to deter and defend against any aggression.”
NATO’s Baltic Air Policing mission sees allies deploy in four-month rotations to air bases at Šiauliai in Lithuania and Ämari in Estonia, where they can be called into action by the NATO Combined Air Operations Centre in Uedem, Germany.
Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia, as host nations, provide air command and control infrastructure and personnel for the mission, which was initially launched in 2004 and was expanded in 2014 following Russia’s illegal annexation of the Crimean Peninsula.
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