NATO fighter jets shot down a drone that crossed into Latvian airspace near the Russian border on Thursday, after Russian electromagnetic warfare redirected the unmanned aircraft, according to Latvia's Defence Ministry. The incident occurred in the Bali municipality and prompted airspace threats in five border municipalities, with Finland also imposing airspace restrictions.
Drone Downed After Russian Electronic Warfare
The ministry stated that 'NATO Baltic Air Policing mission fighters were scrambled in response to the threat in Latvian airspace' and that they 'successfully shot down a foreign unmanned aerial vehicle that had entered Latvia as a result of Russian electromagnetic warfare.' The drone was likely Ukrainian and part of a mass four-hour strike on the Leningrad region around St Petersburg, but was disrupted and redirected by Russian air defences.
Ukrainian Strike on Ust-Luga Port
The incursion coincided with a heavy Ukrainian strike on the major Russian oil port of Ust-Luga, which ignited fires at the Gulf of Finland complex. Russian authorities confirmed that Ust-Luga was ablaze and had suffered damage, as the country's air defences overnight downed 553 Ukrainian drones. Ust-Luga is Russia's biggest Baltic port, a vital oil-export and sanctions-evasion hub with revenues sustaining Vladimir Putin's war economy.
Related Incidents in NATO States
The threat to NATO airspace followed concerning incidents in other alliance states amid warnings of Russian provocations in Western states. An explosion tore through an Italian ammunition plant that supplies Ukrainian armed forces, and one person was killed and six injured at an oil terminal explosion in the Port of Rotterdam, at a facility linked to Gunvor Energy, founded by close Putin associate Gennady Timchenko. Putin was also hit by a major fire at the October Revolution Shipbuilding Plant in Blagoveshchensk, six time zones east of Moscow, where a fuel and lubricants warehouse was ablaze. It was not immediately clear if the inferno was linked to Putin's war.
