The Ministry of Defense announced to the media today that on Tuesday morning around 9 a.m. near the border of Latvia, GS detected an unidentified flying object that was approaching the Latvian-Belarusian border and crossed it in the territory of Krāslava district.
Fighter jets of the NATO Airspace Patrol Mission from the Lielvārde military base, which carried out a survey of the relevant area, were lifted into the air. As GS confirmed to the LETA agency on Tuesday afternoon, airspace surveillance equipment detected a flock of birds, but no suspicious objects were detected.
NBS, together with NATO allies, continues to monitor the situation on the eastern border and monitoring of the airspace border has been intensified, the statement of the Ministry of Defense emphasized.
The decision to raise the NATO fighter jets was made on Tuesday, because initially it was not possible to find out exactly what the “flying object” was, Minister of Defense Andris Spruds (P) said at the press conference after the meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers.
Sprud reminded that we live next to an aggressor country, we have faced the dangers of hybrid war. “New challenges are coming, so we have strengthened our detection capabilities, we are in consultation with our allies,” said the minister.
He explained that initially the radar stations detected a flying object that could not be identified, so the fighters were raised. After it was determined that the object did not pose a threat, the fighters returned to base.
On the other hand, Prime Minister Evika Siliņa (JV) stated that the public should be informed about cases when unidentified flying objects approach Latvia.
She emphasized that it is important that we develop reaction procedures, learn from different situations. She also expressed her gratitude for the quick response from the responsible parties.
As reported, on September 7, a Russian “Shahed” type drone fell in Gaigalava parish of Rēzekne region. The Latvian National Armed Forces monitored the situation, but no decision was made either to shoot down this drone or to take the NATO fighter jets on duty in Latvia into the air, which earned criticism from some of the public. When the drone fell, the warhead that had not exploded initially was deactivated.
Following the incident, the Ministry of Defense has started consultations with allies who have recently faced similar incidents. Wider consultations are also initiated to seek collective solutions together with NATO allies. The Ministry of Defense has also started an evaluation of the actions of the responsible persons during the incident.
2024-09-18 17:18:08