▲ NATO Headquarters
A drone that crossed into Latvian airspace on the morning of the 14th local time was shot down by North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) fighter jets, according to reports by the BNS news agency and other outlets.
Latvian military authorities stated that the drone, which entered the airspace due to Russian electronic warfare, was intercepted over the eastern town of Balvi.
Balvi is located about 30 kilometers away from the Russian border.
NATO announced that a Eurofighter jet belonging to the Italian Air Force neutralized the drone.
NATO is assisting in the defense of the airspace of the three Baltic states, including Latvia, by deploying Italian fighter jets to the Šiauliai Air Base in Lithuania and Turkish fighter jets to the Ämari Air Base in Estonia.
Latvian authorities issued an alert around 4 a.m. that day for eastern regions including Balvi, Augšdaugava, Preiļi, Rēzekne, and Alūksne, but lifted it after one hour.
Drones launched by the Ukrainian military targeting oil export infrastructure in Russia's western St. Petersburg region frequently go off course and violate the airspace of the Baltic states.
In Latvia, after a Ukrainian drone collided with an oil storage facility in early May, political strife ensued over countermeasures, leading to the resignation of the defense minister and the prime minister, which caused the coalition government to collapse.
Later in early June, a drone that crossed into Latvia was intercepted by a French Rafale fighter jet deployed on a NATO air policing mission.
(Photo: Getty Images)
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