A drone carrying explosives flew into Latvia, — Delfi
Last night, a drone equipped with explosives entered Latvian airspace. It was flying at low altitude.
This was reported by a representative of the Latvian Armed Forces, Brigadier General Egils Leshchinskis, according to Delfi.
According to him, the drone had an internal combustion engine and likely carried a warhead, as a detonation occurred after it crashed. The drone was flying at an altitude of about 500 meters, which kept it out of the range of primary radars.
General Leshchinskis clarified that two violations of Latvian airspace were recorded last night. The first object, likely a drone, entered around 1:00 a.m. from Belarusian territory, moved along the border, and returned to Russia, remaining in Latvian airspace for 24 minutes.
The second drone approached Latvia from Russia at 02:19 and disappeared from radar. Air defense forces were scrambled to intercept it, but the drone crashed and exploded near the village of Dobrochina in the Kraslava region at approximately 02:35, 12–15 km from the border with Belarus.
Leshchinskis noted that the origin of the drone has not yet been definitively established—it could be either Russian or Ukrainian. At the same time, there are currently no signs of it having been deliberately directed toward Latvia. Due to the brief nature of the incident, residents were not warned.
The general added that the decision to destroy such objects requires a risk assessment, since “anything shot down in the air will fall to the ground.”
As a reminder, an explosion occurred overnight in the Krāslava district of Latvia after a drone that had violated the country’s airspace crashed.
Latvian President Edgars Rinkēvičs confirmed that the drone, which flew in from Russian territory and crashed in Latvia, belonged to Ukraine.
Earlier reports indicated that Latvia had detected a violation of its airspace by a foreign drone, which, according to preliminary data, had flown in from Russian territory.
Latvian Defense Minister Andris Spruds decided to immediately cut short his visit to Ukraine and return home.
