©Peter Fogden via Unsplash
Two drones entered Latvian airspace from Russia around 4 a.m. on Thursday, May 7, and then crashed in eastern Latvia. The drones were presumably launched by Ukraine and should have hit targets in Russia. So says Latvian Defense Minister Andris Sprūds.
Latvia is a member of NATO and consequently the incident is being looked at with suspicion. NATO immediately sent aircraft from the NATO Police Mission in the Baltic states to the locations of the crashes. No response from NATO is expected since, as with similar incidents in the Baltic states in March, it appears to be another mistake. The Ukrainian drones were likely intended for Russia and for some reason deviated from their trajectory. However, the three Baltic states have not authorized the use of their airspace for attacks on Russia.
During the crash of the drones, four empty oil tanks were damaged at a storage site in Rezekne, some 40 kilometers from the Russian border. A fire broke out at the site, but was quickly extinguished. Remains of a drone were also found. The second drone crashed elsewhere in the Latgale region; no details were shared about possible damage. There were no injuries when both drones crashed in Latvia. Both Reuters and BBC point to possible navigation errors on the Ukrainian side. France 24 and Lithuanian LRT confirm that the drones were likely Ukrainian, targeting Russian oil installations, but unfortunately strayed due to jamming or GPS malfunctions.
©Peter Fogden via Unsplash - illustration image