Lithuania has not recorded any airspace violations after several drones entered Latvia from Russia early Thursday, Defence Minister Robertas Kaunas said.
“To my knowledge, no such incidents involving airspace violations have been recorded in Lithuania,” Kaunas told the radio Žinių Radijas on Thursday.
“Every morning I request this information and have been assured that we have no such incidents in Lithuania,” he added.
According to the minister, NATO air policing assets were deployed after the drones entered Latvian airspace before dawn.
“We have been informed by our Latvian colleagues, and NATO fighter jets also carried out their mission. They took off from Šiauliai Air Base to patrol Latvian airspace and returned to Šiauliai at around 06:00,” Kaunas said.
He described the recent incidents in Latvia, as well as similar cases in Estonia and Finland, as consequences of Russia’s war against Ukraine.
Several drones crossed into Latvian airspace from Russia early Thursday, with two of them crashing, according to previously reported information.
Latvia’s National Armed Forces, State Police and State Fire and Rescue Service units are working at the scene.
Although the drones entered Latvia from Russian territory, officials noted this does not necessarily mean they were Russian-made or Russian-operated. Similar incidents in the past have involved Ukrainian drones targeting Russian northern ports in the Gulf of Finland.
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