A drone has crashed in Latvia near the Belarusian border, with no injuries reported, raising suspicions it may have originated from Ukraine.
The unmanned aircraft plunged into a lake in the Kraslava municipality in southeastern Latvia and exploded upon impact on Saturday, according to Latvian police. Authorities are investigating the incident to determine the drone’s origin.
Latvia, whose eastern border lies adjacent to Russia, has seen several incidents involving Ukrainian drones in recent months. The Ukrainian military frequently uses drones for strikes on Russian targets, and these drones sometimes enter Baltic airspace.
In prior months, Ukrainian drones have crashed in Baltic states during operations targeting northwestern Russia, occasionally causing property damage and injuries.
In early May, drone-related tensions led to a political crisis in Latvia. Prime Minister Evika Siliņa dismissed her Defence Minister and later resigned after losing parliamentary support.
Last Tuesday, NATO intercepted a Ukrainian drone over Estonian airspace. The drone, likely veered off course due to Russian interference technology, marked NATO’s first interception of a foreign drone over a Baltic state since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began in 2022.
