NATO jets shot down a drone that crossed into Latvian airspace near the Russian border on August 14, 2026. The incursion occurred in the Bali municipality as Ukraine launched a heavy strike on the Russian oil port Ust-Luga, causing fires at the Gulf of Finland complex.
Drone redirected by Russian electromagnetic warfare
Latvia's Defence Ministry said the kamikaze drone had been redirected into Latvian airspace by Russian 'electromagnetic warfare'. The ministry added: 'NATO Baltic Air Policing mission fighters were scrambled in response to the threat in Latvian airspace.'
Airspace threats were declared in five border municipalities in the Baltic state, and Finland also imposed airspace curbs. Fighters 'successfully shot down a foreign unmanned aerial vehicle that had entered Latvia as a result of Russian electromagnetic warfare.'
Likely Ukrainian drone involved in strike on Leningrad region
The drone was likely Ukrainian and part of a mass four-hour strike on the Leningrad region around St Petersburg, but was disrupted and redirected by Russian air defences. Russian authorities confirmed Ust-Luga was ablaze and had suffered damage, with air defences downing 553 Ukrainian drones overnight.
Ust-Luga is Russia's biggest Baltic port, a vital oil-export and sanctions-evasion hub whose revenues sustain Vladimir Putin's war economy.
Other incidents in NATO states
The threat followed concerning incidents in other alliance states amid warnings of Russian provocations. An explosion tore through an Italian ammunition plant that supplies Ukrainian armed forces. One person was killed and six injured in an oil terminal explosion at the Port of Rotterdam, at a facility linked to Gunvor Energy, founded by close Putin associate Gennady Timchenko.
Putin was also affected by a major fire at the October Revolution Shipbuilding Plant in Blagoveshchensk, six time zones east of Moscow, where a fuel and lubricants warehouse was ablaze. It was not immediately clear if that inferno was linked to the war.
