Two countries that are members of NATO said Russian drones violated their airspace over the weekend.
Romania said a Russian drone entered its airspace after Russia launched attacks on Ukraine early Sunday, while Latvia said a drone crashed near the city of Rezekne after likely straying from Belarus.
Rezekne is about 34 miles west of Russia and 47 miles from Belarus.
After the incident, Romania’s defense ministry deployed F-16s to monitor its airspace and said investigations are underway of a potential “impact zone” near the Romania-Ukraine border, reportedly near the village of Periprava.
Romania’s foreign ministry condemned the incident in a post on X early Sunday, urging Russia to “stop its reckless escalation” in Ukraine.
“Criminal Russian UAVs violated Romania’s airspace, targeting Ukrainian civilian infrastructure. We strongly condemn these violations and urge Russia to stop its reckless escalation,” the foreign ministry said.
Latvian Defense Minister Andris Spruds confirmed that there were no victims or damage, but said it is nonetheless a “serious incident.”
“I can confirm that there are no victims here and also no property is infringed in any way. … Of course, it is a serious incident, as it is once again a reminder of what kind of neighboring countries we live next to,” he said.
Latvian President Edgars Rinkevics acknowledged the drone crash in a post on X Sunday morning, saying, “The number of such incidents is increasing along the Eastern flank of NATO and we must address them collectively.”
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In the nighttime strikes on Ukraine, Russia was targeting the city of Sumy, near the Russian border. The strikes resulted in two dead and four injured. Russia also launched 16 “glide bombs” at the area by Sunday afternoon, and attacked the city again, injuring two.
NATO Deputy Secretary-General Mircea Geoana condemned the drone airspace violations, but emphasized that there is no evidence Russia intentionally flew its drones into the two countries.
