Drones over Latvia and Finland: Ukraine offers help to allies
Photo: Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha (Vitalii Nosach, RBC-Ukraine)
Ukraine remains in close contact with Latvia regarding the recent drone incidents. Competent authorities are exchanging information to establish all the circumstances of the events, according to Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha.
Sybiha said he held a phone conversation with his Latvian counterpart Baiba Braže, during which they discussed the recent drone crashes on Latvian territory.
The minister stated that Ukraine is maintaining close coordination with Latvia, while competent agencies from both sides continue to exchange information to determine 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," Sybiha emphasized.
The Foreign Minister also recalled that Ukraine had previously apologized to Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Finland for unintended incidents involving Ukrainian drones redirected by Russian electronic warfare systems.
He added that Ukrainian authorities are working closely together to minimize the risk of similar incidents happening again.
In addition, Sybiha said that, at the President's Volodymyr Zelenskyy's instructions, Ukraine is considering sending teams of Ukrainian experts to assist allied countries in strengthening airspace security against any type of incident.
Drone incidents in Latvia and Finland
During the night of May 7, unidentified drones entered Latvian airspace from the direction of Russia. The country’s Air Force confirmed that two drones had crashed.
According to local media reports, one of the drones struck an oil storage tank in the city of Rēzekne.
Meanwhile, Finland decided not to intercept drones that violated its airspace because they were flying too close to the Russian border.
