Title: NATO Jets Blast Drone Over Latvia as 553 Ukrainian Drones Hit Russia—Hybrid War Escalates

Russia and Ukraine exchanged record-breaking drone and missile attacks this week, targeting civilian infrastructure, ports, and transport hubs, while a drone incident at a major German airport has security experts warning of a new phase in Russia’s hybrid warfare against Europe. The discovery at Leipzig Airport, described by security expert Carlo Masala as “a new level,” follows a pattern of increasingly reckless actions attributed to Russian operatives in European airspace [218830]. Meanwhile, NATO fighter jets shot down a drone that entered Latvian airspace early Friday, with Latvian authorities saying it crossed the border “as a result of Russian electromagnetic warfare” [218642]. Two Italian Eurofighter jets were scrambled, and one downed the drone, while two Turkish jets were also deployed [218642]. Residents in five eastern Latvian municipalities were told to take shelter during the incident [218642].

On the battlefield, Russia launched a wave of drone attacks on Ukraine, killing at least three people and wounding 22 others in strikes on critical logistics centers and port infrastructure [218634]. In response, Ukrainian drones struck a major Baltic port and a large logistics hub on Russian soil, with Russian officials reporting damage to fuel storage and loading areas at Ust-Luga, one of Russia’s largest oil and gas export terminals, more than 800 kilometers from Ukraine [218634][218642]. Russia’s Defense Ministry said its air defenses intercepted 553 Ukrainian drones overnight over 18 regions, as well as occupied Crimea and the waters of the Azov and Black seas [218642]. In addition, Ukrainian forces hit a warehouse of Wildberries, Russia’s largest online retailer, which Kyiv says helps supply the Russian military [218642].

The overnight exchange marks another escalation in long-range strikes, with both sides focusing on supply chains and export routes vital to their war efforts [218634]. In Ukraine, a Russian drone struck a passenger train in the Odesa region on 13 August, killing the driver and his assistant, and forcing the evacuation of 340 passengers, including 67 children [218596]. Another Russian drone attack hit a passenger train in southern Ukraine on Thursday, killing two people [218573]. A Russian missile strike on a high-rise residential building in Kharkiv killed two men and wounded 21 people, including a young child [215695]. In northern Ukraine’s Sumy region, a Russian drone strike killed a 29-year-old woman and her 9-year-old son, wounding four others including the boy’s father and grandmother [218642].

The United Nations reported that July was the deadliest month for Ukrainian civilians since the early weeks of Russia’s full-scale invasion, with at least 437 civilians killed and 2,610 wounded [218642]. “Every month this year the number of killed and injured civilians has increased. That trend accelerated sharply in July,” said Danielle Bell, head of the U.N. human rights monitoring mission in Kyiv [218642]. Since the invasion began on Feb. 24, 2022, the U.N. says the war has killed at least 16,874 civilians, including 820 children, and wounded 51,273 others [218642]. Russian forces also used cluster munitions in a ballistic missile attack on Kyiv on August 5, killing three people and endangering nearby civilians, according to Human Rights Watch [218450].