A NATO fighter jet has shot down an unidentified drone after it entered Latvian airspace, while another drone crashed in southeastern Romania near the Ukrainian border. The Latvian incident occurred during overnight Ukrainian attacks on Russian ports, prompting NATO to scramble aircraft to investigate the unidentified object.
Two Italian Eurofighter jets took off from Lithuania, while two Turkish F-16s were scrambled from Estonia after the drone was detected. One of the Italian jets located and destroyed the drone. Latvian forces launched a search for the wreckage near Rugāji, around 35 kilometres from the Russian border, but authorities said its origin had not yet been established.
In Romania, the Defence Ministry said another drone crashed in a forested area near Luncavița, about five kilometres from the Ukrainian border, without causing apparent damage. NATO said an investigation into the Latvian incident was underway in coordination with local authorities, while Romania has yet to determine the origin of the drone. Both countries are NATO members and have previously dealt with drone incidents linked to the war in Ukraine.
