Latvian Defense Minister Resigns After Ukrainian Drones Strike NATO Soil
Tags Defense Tech
Latvian Defense Minister Andris Sprūds resigned on May 10 after two Ukrainian drones — diverted by Russian electronic warfare — entered Latvian airspace and struck an oil storage facility in Rēzekne. Ukrainian FM Sybiha confirmed Russian EW deliberately diverted the drones. Latvia's defense budget had been raised to nearly 5% of GDP. This is the latest in a growing pattern of drone incidents in Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and Finland. Baltic states are pressing NATO for additional ground-based air defense and counter-drone capabilities.
Technical significance
The incident exposes a critical vulnerability in NATO's eastern flank: current air defense systems are not optimized for detecting and intercepting small, low-altitude drones. The fact that Russian EW can deliberately redirect Ukrainian drones toward NATO territory represents a new form of hybrid warfare. This will accelerate NATO investment in counter-drone capabilities and low-altitude radar coverage.