By Andrius Sytas and Janis Laizans
RIGA, June 8 (Reuters) – A French military Rafale fighter jet shot down a drone on Monday that entered NATO country Latvia’s airspace from Russia, the latest in a series of such security incidents along Europe’s eastern border regions.
The Latvian army, without saying who had launched the drone, said it had entered from Russia “as a result of Russian electromagnetic warfare”.
“Allied fighter jets successfully shoot down a drone flying into Latvian airspace!” it said in a post on social media X.
Authorities had earlier on Monday warned people in eastern Latvian regions to seek shelter indoors because of the threat. The alert ended when the drone was shot down, the army said, but another air threat warning was issued later on Monday for eastern residents.
Military drones straying into the airspace of Russia’s neighbours have been stoking concerns that the war in Ukraine is spilling over into NATO’s northern borders.
Ukraine has in recent months stepped up long-range drone attacks on Russia, including in the Baltic Sea area, where several Ukrainian military drones have strayed into the airspace of Finland, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia.
Ukraine has blamed the incidents on Russia affecting the drone paths with electromagnetic warfare.
The French military jet that shot down the drone on Monday is based in Siauliai airfield in Lithuania as part of the NATO Baltic Air Police mission, which has patrolled the skies of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia since they joined NATO in 2004.
The mission also currently includes Romanian F-16 fighters in Siauliai and Portuguese F-16 fighters in Amari in Estonia.
Last month a Romanian military jet on the Baltic Air Police mission shot down a suspected Ukrainian drone over Estonia, which was the first time a jet had “fired a missile in defence of the Alliance” in the Baltics.
(Editing by Anna Ringstrom, Terje Solsvik and Timothy Heritage)
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