French NATO jets destroy mystery drone over Latvia as Ukraine war intensifies

Latvia's military said in a statement that the unmanned aerial vehicle had crossed into its territory "as a result of Russian electronic warfare", without specifying its origin.

Officials suggested the drone may have been diverted from its intended course amid ongoing interference linked to the war in Ukraine.

Latvian Foreign Minister Baiba Braze praised the operation, writing on social media platform X: "Thank you, our French Allies, for taking down the drone that flew into Latvian airspace!"

According to Lithuanian military spokesperson Gintautas Ciunis, two French jets deployed at the Siauliai airbase in northern Lithuania were scrambled and neutralised the drone at around 10:00 local time.

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The incident is the first confirmed case of NATO aircraft intercepting and destroying a drone over Latvia as part of the Baltic Air Policing mission, which has operated since 2004 to safeguard the airspace of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.

Since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, both Russian and Ukrainian drones have crashed in the Baltic states and beyond, raising concerns over airspace security and the risk of escalation. FILE - A Romanian Air Force F- 16s military fighter jet, left, and a Portuguese Air Force F- 16s military fighter jets participating in NATO's Baltic Air Policing Mission operate over the Baltic Sea, Lithuanian airspace, on May 22, 2023. The United States has given its approval for the Netherlands to deliver F-16s to Ukraine, the Dutch defense minister said Friday, Aug. 18, 2023 in a major gain for Kyiv even though the fighter jets wonât have an immediate impact on the almost 18-month war. (AP Photo/Mindaugas Kulbis, File)

On 19 May, a Romanian jet stationed in Lithuania shot down a Ukrainian drone over Estonia after it strayed off course, while a day later Lithuania issued its first public air alert when another drone approached Vilnius.

Escalation

Elsewhere, Moldova reported on Monday that a drone had crashed and exploded on agricultural land near the eastern village of Lopatna after entering its airspace overnight.

Authorities said no injuries were reported and suggested the drone was most likely of Ukrainian origin, though officials in Chisinau stressed that Russia ultimately bears responsibility for such incidents.

Moldova has had its airspace breached dozens of times since the start of the war in Ukraine in 2022.

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Moldovan President Maia Sandu said the country needs to strengthen its anti-drone and jamming systems.

"We must begin producing drones capable of intercepting and shooting down other drones," she said in an interview over the weekend.

Romania, an EU and NATO member bordering both Moldova and Ukraine, has also seen two drones explode on its territory in recent weeks.

Officials across the region warn that Russian electronic warfare systems are increasingly disrupting navigation, causing drones to veer into neighbouring countries.

Nuclear storage unit hit

Moscow and Kyiv have intensified drone strikes on each other in recent months, as US-led diplomatic efforts to end the war – now in its fifth year – remain stalled and sidetracked by the conflict in the Middle East.

On Monday, a Ukrainian drone strike on a passenger train killed one of its drivers and wounded the other, Sergey Aksyonov, the Moscow-installed head of the Crimea region wrote on Telegram.

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The attack came hours after Russia fired waves of drones and other munitions at Ukraine, with one of the attacks damaging a nuclear storage facility near the Chernobyl disaster site, Ukrainian officials said.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said it was dispatching a team to inspect the damage, calling the incident "deeply concerning".

(with newswires)