The Russian drone that crashed in Latvia’s Rezekne Country’s Gaigalava Parish was a Shahed-type drone armed with explosives, as announced by the Latvian National Armed Forces (NBS) at a press-conference held on Monday, the 9th of September.
The drone was deactivated by a demolition team. Now the drone is under inspection. Once it is over, it will be possible to tell if western parts were used to build this drone.
According to NBS command, the entry of a drone into Latvian air space does not equal open military escalation against Latvia, adding that Latvia was not the target of the drone. Latvian defence forces were carefully monitoring the situation together with NATO partners, NBS reported.
Minister of Defence Andris Sprūds announced at the press-conference that Latvia will tighter protection of its eastern border after the crash of the Russian drone in Rezekne.
The minister added that low-flying aircraft are challenging because they are hard to locate and shoot down.
Sprūds said that the drone’s target was Ukraine, so it can be believed “it was aimed against a democratic and free society”.