NATO jets shoot down drone over Latvia, extending Ukraine spillover fears
Key takeaways
- The drone entered Latvian airspace due to ‘Russian electronic warfare’, the military says.
- “Thank you to our French allies for shooting down the drone that penetrated Latvian airspace!” Riga’s Foreign Minister Baiba Braze wrote on social media.
- Latvian Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs heralded the “swift decision-making and professional action”.
Why this matters: an international story with cross-border implications worth tracking.
The drone entered Latvian airspace due to ‘Russian electronic warfare’, the military says.
xwhatsapp-strokecopylinkgoogle Add Al Jazeera on Googleinfo Latvian, French and NATO flags flutter in front of a French fighter jet of the NATO Baltic Air Policing mission at the Lielvarde airbase in Latvia, April 14, 2026 [File: Ints Kalnins/Reuters]By AFP and Reuters Published On 8 Jun 20268 Jun 2026NATO fighters have scrambled to shoot down a drone that entered Latvian airspace from Russia.
The Latvian military said on Monday that French aircraft had destroyed “a foreign unmanned aerial vehicle that had entered Latvian airspace as a result of Russian electronic warfare”, without saying where the drone originated.