Overview
- NATO-authorized French Rafales based at Šiauliai destroyed a drone Monday after it entered Latvian airspace near the village of Berzekne, Latvian and French officials said.
- Latvian Defence Minister Raivis Melnis and NATO sources said the final decision to engage the drone was taken by alliance command and executed by two Rafales on alert.
- Latvian military statements linked the incursion to Russian electronic-warfare activity that can divert drones but did not publicly confirm the drone’s launch origin.
- Officials reported no injuries or damage and said the aircraft was shot down over an uninhabited area after residents in eastern Latvia were warned to shelter.
- The incident follows a recent rise in drone intrusions in the Baltics, including a May 19 NATO shootdown over Estonia, and underscores the allies’ reliance on rotating air-policing detachments to guard vulnerable borders.