Several unmanned aerial vehicles crossed into Latvian airspace from Russia overnight, with two crashing on Latvian territory and one sparking a brief fire at an oil storage facility, the country's armed forces confirmed on Thursday.
The army of the EU and NATO member state, which shares a 276-kilometre border with Russia, said in a statement that "several unmanned aerial vehicles entered Latvian airspace" and that two of them subsequently crashed. One of the drones came down at an oil depot in Rezekne, a city in eastern Latvia near the Russian frontier. National police reported that a fire broke out at the site but was quickly extinguished by emergency services.
"As long as Russian aggression against Ukraine continues, it is possible that such incidents will be repeated, when a foreign unmanned aircraft enters Latvian airspace or approaches it," the Latvian army warned. The precise origin of the drones was not immediately clear, though the military pointed to Russia as the likely source.
This is not the first such violation. In March, drones believed to be from Russia struck both Latvia and neighbouring Estonia. One drone hit the chimney of the Auvere power plant in Estonia, according to the country's Internal Security Service (ISS). Another fell on Latvian soil. ISS Director General Margo Palloson described the events as "the effects of Russia’s large-scale war of aggression" and voiced concern about "the occurrence of such incidents in the future."
NATO on Edge Over Drone Incursions
The latest incursions come amid heightened vigilance across Europe. Last September, drone flyovers into NATO airspace reached an unprecedented scale, prompting European leaders to agree on developing a "drone wall" along their borders to better detect, track, and intercept violating aircraft. In November, NATO military officials announced that a new US anti-drone system had been deployed to the alliance's eastern flank.
Following a violation of Polish airspace, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte launched the Eastern Sentry programme, designed to deter further Russian incursions. Some European officials have described these incidents as Moscow testing NATO's response, raising questions about the alliance's readiness against potential threats from Russia. The Kremlin has dismissed allegations that Russia is behind some of the unidentified drone flights in Europe as "unfounded."
The broader context remains Russia's ongoing war in Ukraine, which has seen repeated drone and missile attacks on civilian infrastructure. In recent weeks, Russian guided bomb attacks killed 26 civilians in Zaporizhzhia and Kramatorsk, and Ukraine accused Russia of breaking a ceasefire with a drone and missile barrage. The Latvian army's statement explicitly linked the drone incursions to the broader conflict, warning that such events are likely to persist.
For Latvia and its Baltic neighbours, the incidents underscore the fragility of security on NATO's eastern frontier. The alliance has bolstered its presence in the region, but the repeated drone violations highlight the challenge of defending against low-cost, hard-to-detect aerial threats. As European leaders push for a coordinated drone defence strategy, the events in Rezekne serve as a stark reminder of the risks posed by Russia's war.
