Latvia scrambles NATO jets in latest Baltic drone alert

Latvia’s military on Thursday reported at least one drone flying in the country’s airspace, saying that NATO aircraft were activated to combat the apparent threat. 

An alert issued to people in Latvia was lifted hours after being issued, but it was the latest of a series of such incidents in the Baltic, and came less than a month after a drone incursion that ultimately led to the collapse of Latvia’s coalition government. 

What did Latvia’s armed forces say about the incursion? 

«We confirm that there is at least one unmanned aircraft in Lativan airspace,» the Latvian Armed Forces wrote online. 

It advised people to seek shelter indoors and close windows and doors, saying that additional units had been deployed on the eastern border to Russia. 

«As long as Russia’s aggression in Ukraine continues, recurrences of such incidences — where a foreign unmanned aerial vehicle enters or approaches Latvia’s airspace — are possible,» they said. 

The fallout from a stray drone landing in eastern Latvia and hitting an oil storage facility ultimately led to the collapse of the already fragile coalition government. 

First, Prime Minister Evika Silina fired her defense minister for his handling of the issue, then the smaller party he represented withdrew from the coalition government costing Silina her majority and ultimately forcing her resignation. 

What did neighboring Lithuania’s president say in response to Wednesday’s air alerts?

NATO planes shot down another drone over Estonian airspace on Tuesday of this week.

On Wednesday, Lithuania issued air alerts that disrupted air travel and other activity in the capital and led to the president and prime minsiter and other senior officials being taken to shelters as a precaution. 

President Gitanas Nauseda issued a televised address on Wednesday evening after the disruption, saying that it had provided an «important lesson» for citizens and institutions dealing with such security risks. 

«We must memorize it well,» he said. 

He called on members of the public to take air alerts seriously and to act responsibly. But he also said there was no cause for overreaction or panic. 

Why are Ukrainian drones straying into Baltic countries’ airspace? 

Ukraine has in recent months stepped up its long-range attacks on Russia, including the area of the country on the Baltic Sea, with several military drones straying into the airspace of NATO members Estonia, Finland, Latvia and Lithuania. 

Intensified attacks on the major Primorsk and Ust-Luga oil terminals in the region are particularly noteworthy amid the rising fuel prices triggered by the US and Israeli attacks on Iran. 

Ukraine and Baltic countries both say these drones do not fly over the NATO members’ airspace, instead alleging that Russian forces intentionally scramble the uncrewed aircrafts’ navigation systems and then issue propaganda accusing Kyiv of trying to attack Russia via the Baltic.

Poland’s defense minister, on a visit to Tallinn in Estonia on Thursday, encouraged Ukraine to be very precise with its drones’ flight path, «to avoid giving rise to Russian provacations.»Â 

Two days earlier, Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur also asked that Kyiv keep its uncrewed aircraft «as far from NATO territory as possible.»

Edited by: Sean Sinico