RUGAJI: An Italian fighter jet, part of a Nato mission, shot down a drone of unknown origin that entered Latvian airspace on Friday during Ukrainian attacks on Russian ports.

Latvian soldiers were searching for debris from the drone around midday in a wooded area near the village of Rugaji, around 35 km from the Baltic nation’s border with Russia which was identified as a potential crash site.

“We can’t give information about the origin of the drone as the area is not yet searched,” Latvian military spokesperson Iveta Berzina told public broadcaster LSM.

Ukrainian military drones have strayed into Baltic nations’ airspace several times this year.

Before Friday’s incident, Ukraine had been attacking Russian ports overnight near St Petersburg, which is located close to Finland and the Baltic countries. Regional governor Alexander Drozdenko said on Telegram that Russian forces had shot down 15 Ukrainian drones during the strikes.

Two Italian Eurofighter jets took off from Lithuania and two Turkish F-16s were scrambled from a base in Estonia in response to the detection of the drone over Latvian airspace, a Nato spokesperson said.

Published in Dawn, August 15th, 2026