NATO Baltic Air Policing fighters shot down a drone that entered Latvian airspace on June 8, 2026, after Latvia’s National Armed Forces issued public air threat warnings in several eastern municipalities.
The Latvian National Armed Forces, or NBS, first warned of a possible airspace threat in Ludza, Balvi, and Alūksne municipalities, saying no immediate public action was required but that residents would receive a cell broadcast alert if the situation changed.
The warning was later escalated to an orange alert covering Ludza and Rēzekne municipalities. Residents were told to seek shelter indoors, follow the “two-wall principle,” monitor official announcements, and call emergency services if they saw a low-flying or suspicious object.
NBS said NATO Baltic Air Policing fighters had been activated in response to the threat. In a later update, the Latvian military said allied fighters had successfully shot down the drone after it entered Latvian airspace.
“The possible air threat has ended,” NBS said in a follow-up statement.
🇱🇻 Rogovkā, Rēzeknes novadā notriekts lidrobots. NBS apstiprina.#Rogovka #Rēzekne #Latvija pic.twitter.com/kBdojUHanB
— BreakingLV (@breakinglv) June 8, 2026
Former Latvian Defense Minister Andris Sprūds confirmed the drone was shot down by a French Rafale fighter operating from Šiauliai Air Base in Lithuania under NATO’s Baltic Air Policing mission.
NATO fighters activated over eastern Latvia
The incident unfolded near Latvia’s eastern border, in areas close to Russia and Belarus. NBS did not immediately provide details on the drone’s type, origin, flight path, crash site, or whether debris had been recovered.
NATO’s Baltic Air Policing rotation is currently led by French Air and Space Force Rafale fighters at Šiauliai Air Base in Lithuania, supported by a Romanian Air Force F-16 contingent, while Portuguese Air Force F-16Ms operate from Ämari Air Base in Estonia.
The alert marks another case in which NATO’s Baltic Air Policing mission has been used in response to drone activity over the Baltic states. The mission provides fighter aircraft for Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, which do not operate their own combat jet fleets for national air policing.
Baltic states push for stronger air defense
The drone incident comes amid growing concern in the Baltic region over repeated airspace violations and stray drone incursions linked to the war in Ukraine and Russian electronic warfare activity.
Drone overspill now generates acute political pressure across the region. A Ukrainian drone that struck an oil storage facility in Rēzekne on May 7, 2026, cost Latvia its defense minister and triggered a coalition crisis in Riga.
It is the second confirmed shootdown over Baltic territory in three weeks, after a Romanian Air Force F-16 destroyed a probable Ukrainian drone over Lake Võrtsjärv in southern Estonia on May 19, 2026. Drones drifting into the Baltic states from the east have generally been assessed as Ukrainian long-range strike aircraft knocked off course by Russian electronic warfare, rather than deliberate strikes on the alliance.
The presidents of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania called on NATO in May 2026 to move beyond the current air policing model and establish a fuller air defense posture in the Baltic states, including stronger counter-drone capabilities.
The June 8 incident is likely to add pressure to those calls, as eastern NATO members seek more persistent sensors, interceptors, and ground-based air defense systems to deal with low-flying drones as well as conventional air threats.