Russian drones entered Latvia and Romania
Russian drones entered two NATO countries. After one Russian drone crashed in eastern Latvia the day before and another flew into Romania during an overnight strike on neighboring Ukraine, two NATO nations claimed on Sunday that Russian drones had breached their airspace.
Romania’s National Defense Ministry said a drone entered Romanian territory early on Sunday, just days after Moscow attacked civilian facilities and port infrastructure across the country in Ukraine. It added that it has deployed F-16 warplanes to monitor its airspace and issued text alerts to residents of two eastern regions.
Additionally, it stated that Romania was looking at a potential impact zone in an unpopulated area near the Ukrainian border. No early reports of forces or casualties were available.
A day after it had crashed close to the town of Rezekne, Latvia’s Defense Minister Andris Sprūds revealed later on Sunday that the drone, which was probably brought to Latvia from Belarus, a neighboring country, was Russian.
With a population of more than 25,000, Rezekne is located approximately 55 kilometers (34 miles) west of Russia and approximately 75 kilometers (47 miles) east of Belarus, a close and crucial ally of the Kremlin.
Although the invasion of Latvian airspace seems to be an isolated incident, Romania has reported multiple times as recently as July this year that drone fragments have fallen on its territory since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
NATO’S Reaction
According to Mircea Geoană, the departing deputy secretary-general of NATO and a former senior diplomat for Romania, the military alliance criticizes Russia’s breaking a rule of Romanian airspace. He made this announcement on Sunday morning. “While we have no information indicating an intentional attack by Russia against Allies, these acts are irresponsible and potentially dangerous,” he posted on the social media site X.