Russian drone crashes in Rēzekne district of Latvia

A Russian drone that flew into Latvia’s airspace from Belarus has crashed in Latvia.

The Latvian Ministry of Defense reported on this.

It is reported that the drone crashed on September 7 in the Rēzekne district. The incident’s circumstances are still under investigation, but according to preliminary findings, it is a Russian drone.

The Latvian Armed Forces tracked the drone’s flight and determined its crash site.

The Latvian Ministry of Defense emphasizes that the country’s security forces act under established procedures, including informing the NATO command.

Responsible officials, law enforcement agencies, and NATO countries in the region have been informed of the incident.

“This situation confirms that we need to continue the work we have begun to strengthen Latvia’s eastern border, including developing air defense capabilities and electronic warfare capabilities that will allow us to limit the activities of UAVs for various purposes,” Defense Minister Andris Sprūds stated.

The Latvian Defense Ministry notes that given Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Latvia is strengthening the protection of its land borders, airspace, and territorial waters, and the national armed forces are strengthening their air defense capabilities on the eastern border.

NATO allies also conduct air patrols over the Baltic states on a rotating basis.

The Latvian defense did not disclose the type of drone. Still, given the information from the Belaruski Hajun monitoring project, it can be assumed that it was a Shahed kamikaze drone.

On the night of September 6-7, a large group of drones flew into Belarus. One of them entered the Hrodna region and flew as far as Korelichi and Novogrudok, heading towards the border with Lithuania. It is possible that it passed through Lithuanian airspace.

This drone could have flown over Belarus to the north for about 200 kilometers, but it is unknown what happened to it afterward.

Militarnyi recently reported that neighboring Romania is examining the sites where a Russian Shahed that flew in from Ukraine on the night of September 8 could have crashed.