Latvia’s president on Sunday said a Russian military drone had crashed on its territory, adding that airspace breaches had increased along NATO’s eastern borders.
A “Russian military drone crashed in the eastern part of Latvia yesterday.
The number of such incidents is increasing along the eastern flank of NATO and we must address them collectively,” he added.
Latvia’s Defense Ministry said in a statement that the drone had flown into the country’s airspace from Belarus and crashed in the municipality of Rezekne.
Fellow NATO member Romania also on Sunday said a Russian attack drone targeting civilian infrastructure in neighboring Ukraine overnight had entered its airspace.
The president of Latvia announced on Sunday that a Russian military drone had crashed on its soil and that there had been an increase in airspace violations near NATO’s eastern borders.
The Baltic state, which was formerly under Soviet Union rule but is now a member of the EU and NATO, had strained relations with Moscow even before it gained independence, and since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, relations have only gotten worse.
Yesterday, a Russian military drone went down in Latvia’s east. President of Latvia Edgars Rinkevics stated on X that an investigation is still underway.
“Our allies and I stay in constant communication. We need to work together to address the growing number of these incidents along NATO’s eastern flank,” he continued.
The drone entered Latvian airspace from Belarus, crashed in the Rezekne municipality, according to a statement from the country’s Defense Ministry.
As Defense Minister Andris Spruds put it, “This situation is a confirmation that we need to continue the work we have started to strengthen Latvia’s eastern border, including the development of air defense capabilities and electronic warfare capabilities to limit the activities of UAVs of different applications.”.
A Russian attack drone that was targeting civilian infrastructure in neighboring Ukraine over night reportedly entered the airspace of Romania, another NATO member, which was reported to have happened on Sunday.
Bucharest vehemently denounced the “renewed violation” resulting from Moscow’s “illegal attacks.”. “.
Since beginning its invasion, Russia has attacked Ukrainian cities at night on multiple occasions, most recently focusing on ports in the southern Odesa region following the termination of a grain export agreement.
At least two instances of Russian missiles or drones invading Ukraine have been reported by Poland, the most recent of which occurred in December.
Late last month, Warsaw claimed that a flying object had entered its airspace, but it later withdrew that assertion.
Poles should be able to shoot down Russian missiles aimed at Ukraine before they enter Polish airspace, even if NATO is against it, according to Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski, in an interview that was published in the Financial Times last week.
