Nato scrambles fighter jets & shoots down suicide drone ‘pushed into Latvia by Russian electromagnetic warfare’

NATO has scrambled fighter jets to shoot down a drone that crossed into Latvian airspace close to its border with Russia. Airspace threats were declared in five border municipalities in the Baltic state on Friday with airspace curbs also imposed in Finland. Polish Air Force F-16 fighter jets during NATO’s Baltic Air Policing Mission operate in Lithuanian airspace Credit: AP A major strike by Russian forces triggered fires in Ukrainian-controlled Kramatorsk Credit: East2West The incursion in the Balvi region came amid heavy Ukrainian strikes on a major Russian oil post Ust-Luga. “NATO Baltic Air Policing mission fighters were scrambled in response to the threat in Latvian airspace”, said a Defence Ministry statement in Riga. Sign up for The Sun newsletter Thank you! Fighters “successfully shot down” the “foreign unmanned aerial vehicle that entered Latvia as a result of Russian electromagnetic warfare”. The kamikaze drone was likely Ukrainian and involved in a four-hour strike on the Leningrad region around St Petersburg – but was redirected by Russian air defences, the ministry said. One person was killed after Russian forces struck a residential building in Kramatorsk last night Credit: East2West More Ukrainian civilians were killed in July than in any month since May 2022 Credit: East2West Russian authorities confirmed Ust-Luga was ablaze as the country’s air defences downed 553 Ukrainian drones overnight. Ust-Luga is Russia’s biggest Baltic port—a vital oil-export and sanctions-evasion hub with revenues sustaining Vladimir Putin’s war economy. Russia also fired a volley of deadly strikes at Ukrainian-controlled Kramatorsk last night, hitting an apartment building. A woman was seen being carried out of the carnage that left one dead and dozens buried under rubble. Most read in The Sun It comes after the United Nations announced more Ukrainian civilians were killed in July than in any month since May 2022, with the death toll reaching 437. The Nato shootdown in Latvia follows mounting drone incursions into airspace along the alliance’s eastern flank. On Monday French fighter jets shot down a drone in the Baltic state, marking the first time the alliance’s rapid-reaction force downed a stray drone over the country. And in July, Romanian fighter jets shot down three drones over just three days. The Nato interception comes amid mounting drone incursions into airspace along the alliance’s eastern flank Credit: EPA A powerful blast erupted near Romania’s Port of Constanta from a sea drone Credit: East2West Weeks earlier a Russian drone crashed into an apartment building in Romania sparking chaos in the Nato nation. Two people were injured in the city of Galati after the unmanned aircraft collided with the 10-storey block. It marked the first time during the Russian invasion of Ukraine that a drone had struck a densely populated area in a Nato state. Ukraine has also stepped up its long-range drone strikes on Russia in recent months, including operations around the Baltic Sea region. Several Ukrainian military drones have strayed into the airspace of Nato members Finland, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. Kyiv has since apologised for the incursions, blaming Russia for jamming guidance systems, pushing drones off course. In June, a Ukrainian sea drone on a Black Sea mission was jammed by Russia – before it lost control and exploded at a major Romanian port. Comment now