Political turmoil has hit Latvia over Ukrainian drones passing through their airspace on their way to attack targets in Russia. On Sunday, May 10, Latvian Prime Minister Evika Silina dismissed Defense Minister Andris Spruds after a suspected Ukrainian drone struck fuel storage tanks in Latvia near the Russian border, reported The Washington Post. Silina said Spruds had lost her confidence. Then yesterday, Silina herself resigned after her coalition partner, Spruds’ Progressives Party, pulled its support for her government.
“The political fallout was triggered by the incursion of three drones into Latvian airspace on 7 May—the second such accident since the start of 2026, the Post reported. “Both Latvia and Ukraine acknowledged that the drones may have been Ukrainian UAVs intended to target Russia whose signals had been jammed, leading them to stray into Latvia.” Moscow has charged, however, that the Baltic countries are deliberately allowing Ukrainian drones to fly through their airspace so they can strike Russian port facilities on the Gulf of Finland from over the water.