Russian drone that crashed in Latvia was Iranian drone loaded with explosives, Riga announces

The Russian drone that crashed on Saturday in Latvia was an Iranian-designed Shahed loaded with explosives, the armed forces of the Baltic country, a member of the European Union and NATO, said on Monday, September 9. Riga had announced on Saturday that a Russian military drone had crashed in the east of the country.

“The explosive warhead sank half a meter into the ground and was neutralized on site”General Leonids Kalnins, commander-in-chief of the Latvian armed forces, told reporters. Due to an ongoing NATO investigation, the general did not specify how or when the drone was defused.

Colonel Viesturs Masulis, Commander of the Latvian Air Force, assessed that “The drone was not targeting a military target (…), it somehow deviated into Latvia”. Defense Minister Andris Spruds said the Latvian military had sent additional mobile anti-aircraft units to the country’s border areas.

Latvian President Edgars Rinkevics stressed on Sunday that airspace violations have increased along NATO’s eastern borders. Romania announced the same day that a Russian attack drone targeting civilian infrastructure in Ukraine had also penetrated its airspace overnight. Poland has recorded at least two cases of violations of its airspace by Russian missiles or drones attacking Ukraine, the most recent of which was in December.