Romania, Latvia report Russian drones breach airspace
Recasts with report of Russian drone downed in Latvia, adds details, paragraphs 1, 5-7
BUCHAREST, Sept 8 (Reuters) -Romania and Latvia, both supporters of Ukraine in its 2 1/2-year-old war with Russia, on Sunday were investigating instances of Russian drones downed after breaching their airspace, authorities in both countries said.
Ukraine's air defence units destroyed 15 of 23 attack drones and one guided air missile launched by Russia overnight, Ukraine's air force said on Sunday.
NATO member Romania shares a 650-km (400-mile) border with Ukraine and has had Russian drone fragments stray into its territory repeatedly over the past year.
Along the Danube River, Romanian territory is a few hundred metres from Ukrainian river ports which have been repeatedly hit.
In Latvia, President Edgars Rinkevics posted on social media platform X that a Russian military drone had crashed in the eastern part of the country, which at one time was part of the Soviet Union.
"There is an ongoing investigation. We are in close contact with our allies," Rinkevics wrote. "The number of such incidents is increasing along the Eastern flank of NATO and we must address them collectively."
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, also writing on X, described the incidents as "a stark reminder that Russia's aggressive actions extend beyond Ukraine" and called for maximum support from Ukraine's allies in the conflict.
The Romanian defence ministry said the "radar supervision system identified and tracked the path of a drone which entered national airspace and then exited towards Ukraine."
Romania scrambled two F-16 fighter jets to monitor the attack. Residents of the southeastern Romanian counties of Tulcea and Constanta were warned to take cover.
"From existing data, the possibility of an impact zone on national territory was identified, in an uninhabited area near the village of Periprava," the ministry added.
Ministry personnel were searching the area.
Lawmakers have yet to approve legislation enabling Romania to shoot down drones invading the country's airspace in peacetime, with plans to do so in the current legislative session.
"There weren't serious issues on the ground," Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu told reporters on Sunday after consulting with the defence minister.
"(Attacks) will continue. That is it, we have a war on the border."
Reporting by Luiza Ilie in Bucharest
Editing by Jan Harvey, Ron Popeski and Matthew Lewis
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