Latvia’s military on Thursday reported at least one drone flying in the country’s airspace, saying NATO aircraft were activated to deal with the apparent threat.
The alert issued for people in Latvia was lifted hours after it was issued, but it was the latest in a series of such incidents in the Baltic, and came less than a month after a drone strike that ultimately led to the fall of Latvia’s coalition government.
What did Latvia’s armed forces say about the infiltration?
“We confirm that there is at least one unmanned aircraft in Latvian airspace,” the Latvian Armed Forces wrote online.
It advised people to shelter indoors and close windows and doors and said additional units had been deployed to Russia’s eastern border.
“As long as Russia’s aggression in Ukraine continues, a recurrence of such incidents – where a foreign unmanned aerial vehicle enters or approaches Latvia’s airspace – is possible,” he said.
The landing of a stray drone in eastern Latvia and hitting an oil storage facility ultimately resulted in the collapse of the already fragile coalition government.
First, Prime Minister Ivica Ćila fired his defense minister over his handling of the issue, then the small party he represented withdrew from the coalition government, causing Ćila to lose his majority and ultimately forcing him to resign.
What did the President of neighboring Lithuania say in response to Wednesday’s air alert?
On Tuesday of this week NATO aircraft shot down another drone in Estonian airspace.
On Wednesday, Lithuania issued an air alert that disrupted air travel and other activity in the capital and moved the president and prime minister and other senior officials to shelters as a precaution.
President Gitanes Nausicaä issued a televised address on Wednesday evening after the disruption, saying it provided an “important lesson” for citizens and institutions dealing with such security risks.
“We should remember this well,” he said.
He called on the public to take the air alert seriously and act responsibly. But he also said there is no reason to overreact or panic.
Why are Ukrainian drones wandering in the airspace of the Baltic countries?
Ukraine has stepped up its long-range attacks on Russia in recent months, including against the country’s territory on the Baltic Sea, with several military drones straying into the airspace of NATO members Estonia, Finland, Latvia and Lithuania.
Particularly notable are the intense attacks on the region’s key Primorsk and Ust-Luga oil terminals amid rising fuel prices due to US and Israeli attacks on Iran.
Both Ukraine and the Baltic countries say the drones do not fly over NATO members’ airspace, but allege that the Russian military deliberately jammed the navigation systems of the uncrewed aircraft and then released propaganda accusing Kiev of trying to attack Russia through the Baltic.
Poland’s defense minister, on a visit to Tallinn, Estonia, on Thursday encouraged Ukraine to be very precise in the flight path of its drones, “to avoid provoking Russian provocations.”
Two days earlier, Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur also said that Kiev should keep its uncrewed aircraft “as far away from NATO territory as possible.”
Edited by: Shawn Sinico