Latvian Defence Minister Andris Sprūds has resigned after two drones entered Latvian airspace from Russian territory and struck oil storage infrastructure. The incident took place on Thursday, May 7, and the minister’s resignation was announced on Sunday, May 10. According to Reuters, the drones were Ukrainian and had likely been diverted from their original targets in Russia, possibly as a result of Russian electronic warfare systems.
The incident triggered a serious political and security crisis in Latvia. Prime Minister Evika Siliņa demanded the defence minister’s resignation, arguing that anti-drone systems had not been deployed quickly enough. Colonel Raivis Melnis was appointed as the new defence minister.
The drones struck near Rēzekne, in eastern Latvia, close to the Russian border. One of them exploded near a fuel storage facility, damaging four empty tanks. No casualties were reported, but the very fact that the airspace of a NATO member state had been violated and that critical infrastructure had been hit caused deep concern across the Baltic region.
Sprūds explained that he was stepping down in order to protect the Latvian armed forces from becoming the subject of a political dispute. Critics, however, argued that the incident exposed serious gaps in the country’s ability to detect and neutralize unmanned aerial vehicles. According to media reports, the problem was not only the delayed deployment of mobile anti-drone systems, but also the effectiveness of warning residents in border areas.
The incident also has an international dimension. Latvia and Lithuania have asked NATO to strengthen air defence in the Baltic region. During the airspace violation, French aircraft on duty as part of the Baltic Air Policing mission responded. The Baltic states increasingly stress that their airspace should be treated as a shared area of Alliance security, rather than solely the responsibility of individual countries.
Ukraine has said it is investigating the circumstances of the incident. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha stated that if it is confirmed that the drones were Ukrainian and had been diverted by Russian jamming, Kyiv would apologise to Latvia. Ukraine is also considering sending experts to the Baltic states to help them strengthen protection against similar incidents.
Sprūds’s resignation shows that the Russian-Ukrainian war is having an increasingly direct impact on the security of countries bordering Russia. Even if the drones were not aimed at Latvia, their crash on the territory of a NATO member state demonstrated how thin the line is between the war being fought in Ukraine and a direct threat to the Baltic countries. For Riga, the incident has become an argument for faster modernisation of air defence, expansion of anti-drone systems and a stronger NATO presence on the eastern flank.
