Invasion of Russian Drones into Latvia and Romania Signals that Russia’s Military Aggression Extends Beyond Ukraine

The violation of European airspace by Russian drones, in particular in Romania and Latvia, is another reminder that Russia's military aggression goes beyond Ukraine.

This was stated by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Andriy Sybiga.  

 ‘Today, Russian drones violated the airspace of Romania and Latvia. This is a reminder that Russia's aggressive actions go beyond Ukraine. The collective response of the allies should be to support Ukraine as much as possible now to put an end to Russian aggression, protect lives and preserve peace in Europe,’ the Ukrainian Foreign Minister said.

According to him, Ukraine now needs concrete actions from its allies.

‘A bold collective decision to use partner air defences to shoot down Russian missiles and drones over Ukraine. Stronger and faster military assistance to Ukrainian soldiers. Lifting restrictions on the use of weapons by Ukraine. Act now,’ emphasised Sybiga.

As a reminder, on 8 September, the Ukrainian Air Force reported that a group of Russian army attack drones that attacked Ukraine at night had violated Romanian airspace. The Romanian Ministry of Defence confirmed that a Russian drone had entered the country's national airspace at night. It also reported that the UAV probably went down in the country.

As previously reported by Latvian President Edgars Rinkēvičs, a Russian military drone went down in eastern Latvia on 7 September. According to the Latvian Ministry of Defence, the Russian drone flew into Latvian airspace from Belarus. The armed forces observed its movement and identified the crash site.