A French military jet shot down a Russian drone which entered NATO airspace earlier today.
Locals in eastern Latvia had been told to seek shelter indoors because of the threat from the mystery drone.
The Latvian Army said the drone had flown into its airspace from Russia as part of ‘Russian electromagnetic warfare’.
On X, the Army posted: ‘Allied fighter jets successfully shoot down a drone flying into Latvian airspace!’
A French Rafale fighter jet, which was on a NATO mission, managed to shoot down the drone before anyone was hurt.
It’s the latest incursion of Russian drones into NATO airspace as Putin looks to expand his aggression from Ukraine into the Baltic States.
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Last month, it was reported that Putin was stockpiling fibre-optic drones for a potential future assault on NATO.
The Kremlin may already have amassed up to 130,000 fibre-optic drones, a stockpile that could rise to 200,000 by the end of summer.
FPV drones are especially dangerous because they use hair-thin fibre-optic cables rather than radio signals, making them far harder to jam electronically by NATO defences.
Russian military insiders believe the weapons could overwhelm Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania in the opening stages of an assault designed to shock Europe into submission before NATO can fully react.
The Kremlin sees the Baltic states as uniquely vulnerable because, although they possess advanced electronic warfare capabilities, they lack Ukraine’s combat experience with mass drone warfare.
Russian planners also allegedly see Europe as lacking the political will for a prolonged fight over the Baltics — particularly while Donald Trump is in the White House.
In March, organisation Volya said they had received confirmation from sources in the Russian Ministry of Defence that Putin’s plan to ‘invade’ the Baltic states has moved to the next stage.
‘The Russian political leadership believes that European countries will be reluctant to fight a nuclear power, especially without direct support from the United States,’ Volya’s analysis said.
‘Putin and his circle believe that major European countries would not risk going to war with Russia over the Baltic states.’
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