VILNIUS, September 11. /TASS/. Latvia’s authorities have decided to close the country’s airspace over the border with Russia and Belarus, the LSM radio station reported, citing the Baltic nation’s Defense Minister Andris Spruds.
According to him, flights will be banned for at least a week starting at 6:00 p.m. local time (3:00 p.m. GMT) on Thursday.
Latvia’s airspace will be closed up to the altitude of 6,000 meters in a 50-kilometer area adjacent to the country’s eastern border. According to the report, the decision was made based on a recommendation from the Latvian National Armed Forces after assessing risks. Spruds noted that even though there currently is no direct threat to the country, pre-emptive measures still needed to be taken.
Early on September 10, the Polish Armed Forces Operational Command reported the destruction of several objects identified as unmanned aerial vehicles, which had violated the country’s airspace. According to Prime Minister Donald Tusk, 19 airspace violations were recorded. He claimed that the drones had come from Belarus. So far, three drones have been reported shot down. After the incident, NATO invoked Article 4 of the North Atlantic Treaty at Poland’s request in order to launch consultations between member states.
The Russian Defense Ministry stated that the Russian Armed Forces had carried out strikes on Ukrainian defense facilities in the Ivano-Frankovsk, Khmelnitsky and Zhitomir regions, as well as in the cities of Vinnitsa and Lvov, that night. No targets had been designated in Poland. The flight range of the drones that allegedly crossed the border with Poland does not exceed 700 kilometers. The Russian Defense Ministry expressed readiness to hold consultations with Poland "on the issue."