On the morning of August 14, NATO fighter jets shot down a foreign drone in Latvia. According to the Latvian military, the drone entered the country because of the actions of Russian electronic warfare systems.
This was reported by LRT, citing the Latvian National Armed Forces.
Iveta Bērziņa, a representative of the Joint Headquarters of the Latvian Armed Forces, said that the location where the drone came down is known, but its exact position is not being disclosed. An investigation is also ongoing, and there is no information on how close to a populated area the drone was shot down.
At around 4:00 a.m. local time, an airspace threat was declared in the Augšdaugava, Preiļi, Rēzekne, Balvi and Alūksne municipalities. It lasted until 4:50 a.m.
Vilmantas Vitkauskas, head of Lithuania’s National Crisis Management Center, said the situation was very similar to an incident in May. According to preliminary information, the drone changed direction while still over Russian territory or crossed the border from Belarus or Russia.
According to him, Russian electronic warfare systems altered the drone’s route, and it eventually entered NATO territory.
“The operation was carried out from the Šiauliai air base. Fighter jets took off from there, identified the object and successfully destroyed it several dozen minutes later,” Vitkauskas said.
He added that there is currently no information about any damage, and searches are ongoing. Lithuanian radars did not detect any threat during the night.
