The unmanned aerial vehicle that entered Latvian airspace and detonated was a Ukrainian drone, apparently part of a coordinated Ukrainian operation against Russian targets, President Edgars Rinkēvičs stated at a joint press conference with Prime Minister Evika Siliņa.
He emphasised that the exchange of information between services and state officials functioned adequately. Information was received in a timely manner, including by the head of the Krāslava municipality.
At the same time, the president stressed that the main challenge is the development of air defence systems. He noted that decisions in this area have already been made, procurements completed and contracts signed, but deliveries are still pending.
Rinkēvičs pointed out that the focus should be on developing systems capable of neutralising this type of drone as much as possible, given that the object remained in Latvian territory for a relatively short period and crashed 10 to 15 kilometres from the border.
The president also stated that
there is currently no need to convene an extraordinary meeting of the National Security Council,
considering the coordination already carried out between the responsible services.
He added that both the war in the Middle East and Russia’s war against Ukraine are much closer than they may seem, and that Latvia still has a number of urgent tasks to address.
As previously reported, the drone that entered Latvian airspace overnight exploded in the Krāslava region, approximately one kilometre from the centre of Svariņi parish, according to Aivars Belkovskis, the municipality’s civil protection coordinator.
The incident occurred about one kilometre from Svariņi, with the nearest inhabited settlement located approximately 300–400 metres from the explosion site.
The Air Force had identified an unmanned aerial vehicle entering Latvian airspace from Russia.
Early warning systems detected a sound resembling an explosion in the Krāslava region.
Drone debris was found at the scene, where units of the National Armed Forces, State Police, and State Border Guard are operating.
The Ministry of Defence stated that no further threat to civilians or Latvian airspace security has been identified. No injuries were reported, and no damage was caused to civilian infrastructure.
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