French fighter jets deployed on NATO air policing duty from Šiauliai air base shot down a drone over Latvia on Monday.
At 9:18 a.m., the Latvian military announced a potential threat in the airspace over the municipalities of Rēzekne, Ludza, Balvi and Alūksne in the country's east, near the Russian border. Emergency text messages were sent to residents' mobile phones.
An hour later, the Latvian military reported on the social network X that the drone had been shot down.
NATO air-policing jets, which maintain a permanent presence over the Baltic states to protect their airspace, were scrambled in response, according to Latvian public broadcaster LSM.lv. At around 09:40 local time, the alert in Rēzekne and Ludza was elevated to orange, indicating an elevated threat.
Latvia's two-tier air alert system
