NATO fighter jets on Baltic air-policing duty shot down a drone that crossed into eastern Latvia on Friday. Latvia's armed forces issued an air threat alert for the region near Balvi, close to the Russian and Belarusian border, then lifted it less than an hour later once the drone was down, according to the Jerusalem Post.

Latvia's military did not confirm whose drone it was. It said the incursion resulted from Russian electronic warfare activity over the Balvi region — language that points toward a Ukrainian drone knocked off course by Russian jamming, rather than a deliberate Russian probe, per Yahoo News.

Finland moved the same day. Its defense forces announced a temporary restricted zone over air and sea traffic in the eastern Gulf of Finland as "a precautionary measure against possible drones," Global Banking & Finance reports. Hours earlier, Russia said its own air defenses had downed 15 drones overnight over the Leningrad region, which borders both Finland and Estonia, according to regional governor Alexander Drozdenko, cited in the same report.

Baltic states have spent the past year closing airspace, not firing on it. Poland shut a strip along its Belarus border after 19 Russian drones entered its territory in September 2025. Lithuania declared a no-fly zone after a Russian Gerbera drone carrying explosives crashed on its soil. Estonia summoned a Russian diplomat over a helicopter violation, per Yahoo News. Friday's shootdown skips past the protest stage.

Why it matters: every additional intercept along NATO's eastern flank raises the odds of a miscalculation, with Russian jamming, Ukrainian drones and Russian air defenses all active near the same borders on the same night.

What's unconfirmed: the drone's manufacturer, launch point and intended target. Watch whether Latvia or NATO name an origin, and whether Finland's Gulf restriction becomes a standing measure rather than a one-day precaution.