NATO jets shot down a drone that flew into Latvia’s eastern airspace, the Ministry of Defence said on Friday, the second time in two months that the military alliance decided to take out the aerial threat. 

The ministry didn’t identify the drone but said it had flown into Latvia as a result of “Russian electromagnetic warfare.” The Baltic country’s military lifted an air space warning for regions in the east at 4:50 a.m. 

Latvia, a frontline member of the European Union and NATO’s eastern flank, has struggled to safely intercept drones coming across its border with Russia as Ukraine ramped up attacks on Moscow’s key infrastructure. 

The latest incursion came as fire was detected at Russia’s Baltic port of Ust-Luga after damage from a drone attack in Russia’s Leningrad region, Governor Alexander Drozdenko said on Telegram earlier on Friday. 

“This is proof that Latvian airspace is protected,” Latvian Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs said on X. “At the same time, such incidents remind us that we must continue to strengthen the surveillance and anti-drone capabilities of Latvia’s eastern border so that we can detect, identify and neutralise any potential threat as quickly as possible.”

The previous Latvian government collapsed in May after the then prime minister criticised as inadequate the response to incursions by Ukrainian drones, which have veered off course often due to signal jamming. The country is currently investing to strengthen its drone defenses and buying new radars to be better positioned to counter future threats. 

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Published on August 14, 2026