Ukrainian drone crashed in Latvia early Wednesday after entering from Russian airspace, while several others reportedly strayed into Estonia on a route toward Russia’s Ust-Luga port, officials said.
Latvian armed forces said the drone that fell in the country’s southeast was flying at less than a kilometer altitude, which kept it “invisible” to primary radar systems.
The drone was equipped with an explosive warhead, which detonated upon impact near the village of Dobrochina in Kraslava municipality, about 12–15 kilometers from the Belarus border.
Brig. Gen. Egils Leščinskis, deputy chief of the Latvian Joint Staff, said two airspace violations were recorded that night.
One object, likely a drone, crossed from Belarus around 1 a.m., flew along the border, and returned to Russia after spending 24 minutes in Latvian airspace.
At 2:19 a.m., another object approached Latvian airspace from Russia and disappeared from radar. Anti-aircraft forces were deployed, but the drone crashed before interception at 2:15 a.m.
“Residents were not alerted because it was a very short incident,” Leščinskis said. He added that decisions to shoot down drones are weighed carefully since “anything brought down in the air will fall somewhere on the ground.”
Latvian President Edgars Rinkēvičs later confirmed the drone had been identified as Ukrainian.
In neighbouring Estonia, a drone hit a chimney at the Auvere power plant near the northeastern border city of Narva, a predominantly Russian-speaking area long viewed as politically sensitive due to its proximity to Russia.
“A drone struck the chimney of the Auvere power plant. No one was injured,” Estonia’s Internal Security Service (ISS) said in a statement cited by AFP. The security service added that the aircraft had entered from Russian airspace.
The Auvere facility, operated by Enefit Power, is located near Narva, where Estonian authorities have heightened security in recent years amid concerns about potential Russian influence and destabilization efforts.
The company said the plant sustained no direct damage and the incident did not significantly affect Estonia’s energy system. Prosecutors have opened an investigation.
“These are the effects of Russia’s large-scale war of aggression,” ISS Director General Margo Palloson said, according to KRIIS – the official Estonian government crisis information portal – warning similar incidents could occur again.
The Baltic states lie along a potential flight path for drones targeting Russia’s northwestern regions, including areas near St. Petersburg.
Ukraine has carried out repeated drone attacks on Russia’s Leningrad region in recent days, including strikes on the port of Ust-Luga on the Gulf of Finland early on Wednesday, March 25, where a fire was reported.
Latvian Defense Minister Andris Spruds cut short a visit to Ukraine following the incident and returned to Riga.