Less than an hour after the report of the elimination of the threat in Latvian airspace, the National Armed Forces issued another warning for several areas in Latgale. Residents of part of the region are asked to stay indoors and monitor official information.
An air threat warning has been reissued in Latgale. The new message from the National Armed Forces (NAF) was received at 11:23 — just shortly after the military reported the elimination of the previous threat.
This time, the warning applies to the Rezekne, Balvi, Ludza, and Kraslava districts, as well as the city of Rezekne.
Residents of the Ludza and Kraslava districts are advised to take shelter indoors, adhere to the two-wall principle, and closely monitor further messages from official services. If low-flying or suspicious objects are detected, people are asked not to approach them and to immediately report to 112.
The current warning is the second of the day. In the morning, a similar regime was introduced in several areas of eastern Latvia after a potential air threat was detected.
Later, the NAF reported that French fighter jets from the NATO air policing mission in the Baltic states had destroyed a foreign drone that had entered Latvian airspace.
According to the military, the drone was shot down in Latgale between Rezekne and Kraslava. It was initially reported that it had entered Latvian territory due to the influence of Russian electronic warfare systems.
What is important to know: today's incident marks the first confirmed case of the destruction of a foreign drone in Latvian airspace since the onset of such border violations.
Around 10:30, the NAF stated that the threat had been eliminated. However, less than an hour later, the military had to issue another warning for residents of the region.
In recent months, such reports have become significantly more frequent. In May, residents of Latgale and Vidzeme repeatedly received emergency notifications about potential air threats. Some drones subsequently crashed or exploded, and one was previously destroyed over Estonia by a NATO mission aircraft.
The military links most of these cases to drones used in the war between Russia and Ukraine, which for various reasons deviate from their routes and end up near the borders of the Baltic states.
So far, the NAF has not reported whether the new alarm signal is related to another drone or other objects in the air. The situation is being monitored, and residents are urged to follow the instructions of official services.
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