NATO Jets Shoot Down Drone Over Latvia

A Ukrainian drone crossed into ​Moldova near the village of Lopatna, with fragments indicating the ‘occurrence of an explosion,’ Moldovan officials said.

DK Union interceptor drone flies during NATO Innovation Range demo day in the Selija military training field near Viesite, Latvia, on May 26, 2026. Ints Kalnins/Reuters

NATO fighter jets have shot down an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) over Latvia, in the latest incident of drones engaged in the Russia–Ukraine war straying into allied territory.

The Latvian National Armed Forces said in a June 8 statement that a jet belonging to the NATO Baltic Airspace Patrol Mission was scrambled in response to reports of a drone in its airspace and shot down a foreign UAV.