Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sibiga admitted that the two drones that crashed in Latvia were Ukrainian.
Sibiga discussed “drone incidents“ by phone with his Latvian counterpart Baiba Braže and admitted that the drones were Ukrainian.
According to the investigation, the drones were deliberately diverted from their course by Russian electronic warfare (EW) systems while they were carrying out missions against targets on Russian territory.
Sibiga stressed that Ukraine had never directed drones towards Latvia, and apologized for the unintentional entry into the country's airspace.
The incident in which two drones fell near an oil base in the city of Rezekne led to the resignation of Latvian Defense Minister Andris Spruds.
Ukraine has offered to send its experts to the Baltic states and Finland to help strengthen security and prevent similar incidents in the future.
This is not the first such case in Latvia – In September 2024, a Russian drone of the “Shahed“ type crashed on Latvian territory, but the current incident from May 2026 is specific with the confirmed Ukrainian origin of the devices.
The Russian Ministry of Defense reported the detection of a group of six unmanned aerial vehicles in the airspace of Latvia during an attempt by the Ukrainian armed forces to attack civilian infrastructure facilities near St. Petersburg.
This is not the only case of the detection of Ukrainian drones in the airspace of the Baltic states. Previous reports of crashes of Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles have been reported in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. Information about similar cases also comes from Finland.