NATO jets shoot down drone over Latvia

NATO fighter jets on an air-policing mission shot down a drone that entered the airspace of Latvia, a NATO and European Union member, early Friday morning, the Latvian armed forces said on X.

The armed forces also issued an air-threat alert for regions near Russia, CE Report quotes MOLDPRES.

Finland, another EU and NATO member that also shares a border with Russia, temporarily restricted areas designated for air and maritime traffic in the eastern part of the Gulf of Finland. Its defence forces said on X that the measure was taken as a precaution against possible drones.

Latvia’s armed forces did not immediately provide details about the drone or its origin.

Countries bordering Russia and Ukraine have been issuing air-threat alerts and occasionally shooting down drones as Moscow and Kyiv continue to launch attacks against each other following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Overnight, Russia shot down 15 drones in the Leningrad region, which is close to Finland and Estonia and is home to St. Petersburg, the country’s second-largest city and an important export hub, regional governor Alexander Drozdenko said on Telegram on Friday morning.

Russia’s northern NATO neighbours are strengthening security measures around dams, power plants and natural-gas infrastructure. The move reflects growing concerns that Moscow could stage a “false flag” attack against them using Ukrainian drones.

Photo: Chat GPT