Russian electronic warfare may have diverted Ukrainian drone into Latvia

A drone shot down over Latvia may have been a Ukrainian aircraft diverted from its course by Russian electronic warfare, Vilmantas Vitkauskas, head of Lithuania’s National Crisis Management Centre, told LRT on Friday.

NATO air policing mission fighters intercepted the foreign drone in Latvia’s Balvi municipality after it entered Latvian airspace. The aircraft was shot down in a forested area, and no residents or property were harmed.

Vitkauskas said the drone was believed to have entered Latvia from Belarus. He said it may have been affected by Russian electronic warfare, diverted from its intended route and entered NATO airspace.

Fighters launched from Šiauliai shortly before 4 a.m. and identified and neutralised the object within minutes. The drone was detected by radar, and officials hope its wreckage will provide more information about its origin and flight path.

Latvia’s airspace was not the only issue under consideration, Vitkauskas said, as officials initially sought to determine whether the drone had crossed the border from Belarus or Russia. No other objects were detected entering the airspace that night.

Lithuanian Defence Minister Robertas Kaunas said authorities were still investigating the drone’s origin and why it had flown into Latvia. He said the aircraft had been detected by the air forces of all three Baltic states and described NATO’s air defence mission in the region as effective.

Prime Minister Mindaugas Sinkevičius said, according to information available to him, the drone had not crossed Lithuanian airspace. He said the successful interception demonstrated the ability of air defence forces to destroy such objects and identified air defence as a personal priority.