Politics Close to Russia: Drones crash in Estonia and Latvia
Drones flown into airspace from Russia have crashed in Estonia and Latvia. According to the governments in Tallinn and Riga, the drones were misguided Ukrainian aircraft that Kiev was using to attack Russian targets on the Gulf of Finland. One drone went down in the east of each of the two EU and NATO member states near the border with Russia. No one was injured.
25.03.2026, 09:44
25.03.2026, 12:35
SDA
Representatives of the government and armed forces in both countries emphasized that Estonia and Latvia were not the actual target of the drone attack. Instead, they assumed that in both cases the unmanned Ukrainian aircraft had veered off course or been misdirected by Russian electronic defense measures. There was no danger to the population or public safety, they said.
Power plant chimney hit in Estonia, explosion in Latvia
In Estonia, the drone hit a chimney at the Auvere power plant in Ida-Virumaa county. According to official reports, nobody was injured in the incident at 3.43 a.m. (local time) and the power infrastructure remained undamaged. Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur said after a special government meeting that drones had also violated Estonian airspace over the Baltic Sea during the night, particularly over the Gulf of Finland.
According to the military, an unknown flying object was detected by radar in Latvia at 2.19 a.m. (local time) and exploded by itself around 20 minutes later near the village of Dobricina in the municipality of Kraslava - without the intervention of an alert air force unit. Prior to this, an object from the Belarusian side had already entered Latvian airspace, flown a slight turn and flown on into Russian airspace.
Repeated drone incidents
Ukraine has been defending itself against a Russian invasion for more than four years. In the reciprocal drone war, the aircraft, which are defended against by electronic means, also pose a threat to neighboring countries. Drones have repeatedly entered the airspace of Poland and the Baltic states, which are among Ukraine's closest partners and supporters, over Belarus. Most recently, a misguided Ukrainian drone was downed in Lithuania on Monday night. There were similar cases in Romania and Moldova.
Lithuania's Defense Minister Robertas Kaunas blamed Russia for the drone crashes. "This is all due to Russia's war," he wrote on Facebook. "The war provoked by the aggressor Russia has brought us to this point, where drones have crashed on the territory of the three Baltic states within 48 hours." It is obvious that air defense is a challenge not only in Lithuania, but throughout NATO.
