NATO jets shoot down drone over Latvia, Finland restricts Baltic Sea areas amid drone concerns

NATO interception over Latvia

Early on Friday morning, NATO fighter jets shot down a foreign drone that entered Latvian airspace over the Balvi region in the east of the country. Latvia's armed forces announced the interception on X, stating that allied combat aircraft had successfully destroyed the unmanned aerial vehicle. Four NATO jets were scrambled for the mission: two Italian Eurofighters and two Turkish F-16s, all operating under NATO command. One of the Italian Eurofighters carried out the shootdown. The Italian aircraft are based at Šiauliai air base in Lithuania, as part of the Baltic Air Policing mission that has rotated among NATO allies since 2004 and was expanded after Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014. Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania do not operate their own fighter aircraft.

Latvia's defence ministry attributed the drone's entry into Latvian airspace to Russian electronic warfare. The reference to electronic warfare raised the possibility that a Ukrainian drone targeting Russia had been forced off course by interference. Ukrainian forces had attacked targets in northwestern Russia overnight, according to Latvian media. Latvian authorities did not identify the drone as Ukrainian, and NATO said an investigation was underway.

Civilian alerts and Finnish response

Before the interception, Latvia's army issued an "orange" warning for five regions near the Russian border: Augšdaugava, Preiļi, Rēzekne, Balvi, and Alūksne. The military urged residents to stay indoors, follow official updates, and call emergency services if they spotted low-flying or suspicious objects. The air threat alert was lifted after the drone was destroyed.

Finland, which shares a border with Russia, temporarily restricted aviation and maritime traffic in the eastern Gulf of Finland as a precautionary measure against possible drones. The Finnish defence forces described the step on X as aimed at ensuring the safety of bystanders and maintaining authorities' ability to counter potential drone threats. In a later post, the Finnish military said the restrictions had been lifted and that no drones had entered Finnish territory.

Drone attacks on Russian territory

Overnight, Russia reported shooting down drones in the Leningrad region, which borders Finland and Estonia and includes St. Petersburg. Regional governor Alexander Drozdenko said on Telegram that 15 drones had been downed. According to the Russian news agency Interfax, Drozdenko later spoke of 51 drones shot down. A fire broke out at the Baltic Sea port of Ust-Luga, which Reuters describes as a transshipment point for Russian oil capable of handling roughly 700,000 barrels of crude per day.

Pattern of incursions and NATO concern

The incident fits a pattern of drone incursions along NATO's eastern flank since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. A stray drone was shot down over Latvia in early June. In July, Romanian fighter jets shot down three drones within three days, at least one of which was identified by Romania's prosecutor general as a Shahed-type drone used by Russian forces. Romanian and Spanish fighter jets were deployed again on Thursday after drones entered Romanian airspace near Ukraine.

NATO allies discussed the recent drone incidents on Wednesday. The alliance said Russia bears responsibility for dangerous airspace violations and expressed intent to protect its eastern members against further incidents. Russia's northern NATO neighbors are tightening security around dams, power plants, and natural gas infrastructure amid concern that Moscow could stage a "false flag" attack on these facilities using Ukrainian drones. Separately, a recent incident at Leipzig airport involving an explosive drone that targeted the wing of a parked Ukrainian cargo plane has added to security concerns in Germany.