Latvia fired Defense Minister Andris Sprūds on May 10 after two Ukrainian drones struck an oil storage facility in Rēzekne, eastern Latvia, on May 7, revealing gaps in the country’s drone detection and public alert systems.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha confirmed Sunday that the aircraft were Ukrainian and that “Russian electronic warfare deliberately diverted Ukrainian drones from their targets in Russia.” It is the first public confirmation from a senior Kyiv official that Moscow is redirecting Ukraine’s own strike drones into allied territory.
The strike damaged four empty oil storage tanks, with firefighters suppressing a 30-square-meter smoldering area. Schools in Rēzekne closed, air raid alerts covered three municipalities, and French NATO Baltic Air Policing jets scrambled in response.
Prime Minister Evika Siliņa said anti-drone systems were not activated in time and mobile warnings reached residents roughly one hour after impact. “The Minister of Defense has lost my and the public’s trust,” she said on X.
She named Colonel Raivis Melnis, Latvia’s defense ministry representative in Ukraine, as Sprūds’s successor. Sprūds reversed his earlier position before resigning, acknowledging that “drones must be shot down.”
Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna warned Russia could steer jammed Ukrainian drones into NATO territory on purpose. “Russia could take control of Ukrainian drones and send them toward us, somewhere where there could also be civilian casualties,” he said.
Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur said Ukraine’s most direct solution is tighter control over its own operations. “The easiest way for the Ukrainians to keep their drones away from our territory is to better control their activities,” he told ERR.
Latvia and Lithuania called on NATO to strengthen regional air defenses. The incident follows March 2026 incursions in which Ukrainian drones entered all three Baltic states’ airspace within 48 hours during strikes on Russian port facilities.
