Ukrainian drone strike on empty Baltic fuel depot prompts top-level resignation – in Latvia

VIENNA — Latvia’s minister of defense has resigned following a renewed incursion of Ukrainian drones into the country’s airspace, where they hit an empty fuel depot. The incident marks the latest in a series of Baltic NATO airspace violations by misguided Ukrainian drones sent to strike Russian targets far away from Kyiv.

On May 7, two drones entered Latvia from Russian airspace, hitting a fuel depot. Nobody was injured. As early as March of this year, there had been incidents of Ukrainian drones crashing into Baltic allies’ territory, with one hitting a power plant chimney .

Following the latest incident, Latvia’s prime minister, Evika Siliņa, said that defense minister Andris Sprūds had lost her trust and “that of the public,” calling on him to resign. He did so on Sunday, being replaced by Col. Raivis Melnis of the Latvian Army.

Also on Sunday, Ukraine’s foreign minister, Andrii Sybiha, confirmed that the drones that struck Latvia were sent by his country, though not aimed at the Baltic republic. The fact that the drones missed their targets and crashed in friendly territory instead, he said, “was the result of Russian electronic warfare deliberately diverting Ukrainian drones from their targets in Russia.”

Latvia's then-defense minister, Andris Spruds, takes part in a panel discussion during the Defence 24 Days conference on May 6, 2026, in Warsaw, Poland. (Photo by Omar Marques/Getty Images)

When a series of drones hit all three Baltic states earlier this year, there had been speculation that Russian electronic warfare may be to blame, and that Russia was deliberately re-routing the aircraft “back to sender” − but toward Europe.

The new statement by a top Ukrainian official provides the strongest public confirmation yet that this is a tactic employed by Moscow.

So far, there have been no deaths or injuries reported from wayward Ukrainian drones, but the accidental air strikes have laid bare the inadequate state of air defense even at NATO’s most exposed frontier, with the lack of fatalities seemingly mostly a matter of luck.

In Thursday’s strike, which took place 40 kilometers into Latvian territory from the Russian border, four empty oil storage tanks were damaged, and firefighters had to extinguish a smoldering area of around 30 square meters. Schools in Rēzekne were closed, air raid alerts were declared across three municipalities, and residents reported hearing explosions. French NATO Baltic Air Policing jets were scrambled during the alert.

Latvian officials initially said the drones were not shot down because the safety of civilians and infrastructure could not be guaranteed. Sprūds then reversed that stance entirely, saying: “Drones must be shot down — that’s the responsibility of the head of the Armed Forces and myself, as the political leader.”

As in March, the Baltic states have used the incident to call for stronger air defense measures. Latvia and Lithuania jointly called on NATO to boost regional air defenses in the wake of the May 7 strike, with Lithuania’s defense minister Robertas Kaunas appealing to NATO that “Strengthening anti-drone defense in our region should be a particular emphasis, and additional capabilities are welcome here.”

Linus Höller is Defense News' Europe correspondent and OSINT investigator. He reports on the arms deals, sanctions, and geopolitics shaping Europe and the world. He holds master’s degrees in WMD nonproliferation, terrorism studies, and international relations, and works in four languages: English, German, Russian, and Spanish.

维也纳——拉脱维亚国防部长因乌克兰无人机再次入侵该国领空并击中一个空燃料库而辞职。此次事件是乌克兰无人机误入波罗的海北约领空，企图袭击远离基辅的俄罗斯目标的最新一起侵犯事件。

5月7日，两架无人机从俄罗斯领空进入拉脱维亚，撞上一处燃料库。所幸无人受伤。早在今年3月，就曾发生过乌克兰无人机坠入波罗的海盟国领空的事件，其中一架无人机撞上一座发电厂的烟囱。

在最近这起事件发生后，拉脱维亚总理埃维卡·西利娜表示，国防部长安德里斯·斯普鲁兹已经失去了她和“公众”的信任，并呼吁他辞职。斯普鲁兹于周日辞职，由拉脱维亚陆军上校赖维斯·梅尔尼斯接任。

同样在周日，乌克兰外交部长安德烈·西比哈证实，袭击拉脱维亚的无人机是由乌克兰派出的，但并非瞄准这个波罗的海共和国。他表示，无人机偏离目标并坠毁在友方领土上，“是俄罗斯电子战蓄意干扰乌克兰无人机攻击其在俄罗斯境内的目标所致”。

2026年5月6日，时任拉脱维亚国防部长安德里斯·斯普鲁兹在波兰华沙举行的“国防24天”会议上参加小组讨论。（图片来源：奥马尔·马克斯/盖蒂图片社）

今年早些时候，一系列无人机袭击了波罗的海三国，当时有人猜测可能是俄罗斯电子战所为，并且俄罗斯故意改变无人机的航线，“将其送回原处”——但却是飞往欧洲。

乌克兰一位高级官员的最新声明提供了迄今为止最强有力的公开证实，表明这是莫斯科采取的一种策略。

到目前为止，还没有乌克兰无人机失控造成人员伤亡的报告，但这些意外空袭暴露了即使在北约最脆弱的边境地区，防空能力也存在不足，而没有人员伤亡似乎主要是运气使然。

周四的空袭发生在距离俄罗斯边境40公里的拉脱维亚境内，造成四个空油罐受损，消防员扑灭了约30平方米的闷烧区域。雷泽克内市的学校停课，三个市镇发布了空袭警报，居民报告听到爆炸声。警报期间，法国北约波罗的海空中警戒部队的战机紧急升空。

拉脱维亚官员最初表示，之所以没有击落无人机，是因为无法保证平民和基础设施的安全。但斯普鲁兹随后彻底改变了这一立场，他说：“无人机必须被击落——这是武装部队总司令和我作为政治领导人的责任。”

与3月份的情况类似，波罗的海三国利用此次事件呼吁加强防空措施。拉脱维亚和立陶宛在5月7日空袭事件后联合呼吁北约加强区域防空能力。立陶宛国防部长罗伯塔斯·考纳斯向北约呼吁：“加强本地区的反无人机防御应是重点，我们欢迎增加相关能力。”

林努斯·霍勒是《防务新闻》的欧洲记者和开源情报调查员。他报道影响欧洲乃至全球的军火交易、制裁和地缘政治。他拥有大规模杀伤性武器不扩散、恐怖主义研究和国际关系三个硕士学位，并精通英语、德语、俄语和西班牙语四种语言。