Ukraine weighs sending security experts to Baltics over drone incidents
Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said Friday that Kyiv is considering sending experts to the Baltic states following recent drone incidents to help strengthen the countries' air security.
Sybiha made the statement after two drones believed to have originated from Ukraine crashed in Latvia after entering the country from Russia. The foreign minister said on social media that Kyiv remains in close contact with Latvia over the recent drone incidents and that the countries' authorities are exchanging information to determine the circumstances of what happened.
"If there is a confirmation that those were Ukrainian drones that were deliberately knocked off course and directed toward Latvia by Russia's electronic warfare, we will offer our most sincere apologies to our Latvian friends. What can be stated with full confidence is that Ukraine never directed any drones toward Latvia," the minister posted on X.
I was glad to speak with my good friend and colleague from Latvia @Braze_Baiba.
— Andrii Sybiha (@andrii_sybiha) May 8, 2026
We are in close contact with Latvia over the recent drone incidents, and our competent authorities are sharing information to get to the bottom of what happened.
If there is a confirmation that…
"We have already expressed our apologies to all three Baltic states, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, as well as Finland, for the unintended incidents that were caused by Russia's EW systems redirecting Ukrainian drones. Our specialized institutions are working closely together to minimize risks of such incidents repeating."
Sybiha added that under instructions from Presidetn Zelenskyy, Ukraine is considering "sending Ukrainian expert teams to help directly strengthen the airspace security of our friends against any types of incidents."
According to Sybiha, Ukraine is working to minimize the risk of similar incidents happening again.
Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia have reported several incidents in recent months in which Ukrainian drones targeting Russia entered their airspace.
According to Latvia's police and rescue services, four empty fuel tanks were damaged in an incident Thursday in Rēzekne, located around 40 kilometers from the Russian border.
At the end of March, a drone flying from Russia struck the chimney of the Auvere power plant in Estonia.
Following the incidents, Latvia and Lithuania on Thursday called on NATO to strengthen air defenses in the region.
--
Editor: Valner Väino, Marcus Turovski
Source: Reuters
