Latvian Drone Strike Triggers NATO Airspace Crisis

(MENAFN) A Ukrainian kamikaze drone is the likely cause of damage to unoccupied fuel storage tanks in Latvia, the country's defense minister said, even as NATO allies grow increasingly alarmed over a pattern of errant Ukrainian unmanned aircraft crashing across their territories.

Latvian Defense Minister Andris Spruds stopped short of condemning Kyiv, instead directing blame squarely at Moscow. "Ukraine has every right to defend itself," Spruds stated, adding that such incidents will persist for as long as Russia's war against Ukraine continues.

Latvian authorities confirmed that two drones — identified by the Russian military as Ukraine's Lyuty-type fixed-wing aircraft — violated the country's airspace overnight. One ignited a blaze near the town of Rezekne, approximately 40 kilometers from the Russian border. The second has yet to be located.

A Divided Alliance
Spruds' measured tone stands in sharp contrast to the harder line taken by Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo, who disclosed earlier this week that he confronted President Volodymyr Zelensky directly during a meeting in Armenia. Orpo made clear that despite Helsinki's firm support for Kyiv, Finland considers Ukrainian aircraft entering its airspace "unacceptable."

Several NATO nations bordering Russia — including Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and Finland — have reported a surge in such incidents since late March, when Ukraine intensified drone strikes on Russian Baltic Sea oil export terminals. All four countries sit along a flight corridor from Ukraine to Russia's northwestern Leningrad Region that bypasses Russian ally Belarus.

Russian officials have repeatedly accused the Alliance of tacitly allowing Ukraine to exploit member states' airspace to carry out strikes deep inside Russia — charges NATO governments have not formally addressed.

347 Drones Intercepted in a Single Night
The latest escalation comes days before Russia's high-stakes Victory Day commemoration on Saturday, marking the Soviet defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II. Overnight, Russian air defenses shot down 347 Ukrainian drones, the Russian Defense Ministry reported, with a total of 570 unmanned aircraft destroyed over the preceding 24-hour period.

Bryansk Region Governor Aleksandr Bogomaz confirmed that 13 civilians — among them a child — sustained injuries following drone strikes on the regional capital. Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin separately reported that more than 30 drones were neutralized before reaching the capital.

Zelensky had previously signaled that Ukraine might attempt to strike the military parade in central Moscow, drawing stark warnings of severe retaliation from Russian officials. In a precautionary move, Russia's Foreign Ministry urged foreign diplomats to vacate Kyiv over the weekend.

Ceasefire Standoff
Moscow announced plans to suspend offensive operations on Friday and Saturday — mirroring a brief pause observed during Orthodox Easter in mid-April. Zelensky, however, rejected the limited gesture, demanding a broader ceasefire effective from Wednesday and reiterating threats tied to Victory Day after Russia dismissed the proposal outright.

Kremlin officials countered that prior extended ceasefires had been exploited by Kyiv to regroup troops, replenish weapons, and fortify frontline positions — not to advance meaningful peace negotiations.

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