Ukraine Vows to Protect Baltic Airspace Following Drone Diversion

(MENAFN) Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha pledged Sunday to work alongside the Baltic states and Finland to safeguard allied airspace, following a series of drone incursions over Latvia that have intensified tensions along NATO's eastern flank.

Sybiha confirmed he had spoken directly with Latvian Foreign Minister Baiba Braze regarding the incidents, laying blame squarely on Moscow.

"The investigations proved that this was the result of Russian electronic warfare deliberately diverting Ukrainian drones from their targets in Russia," Sybiha wrote on the US social media platform X.

He underscored that Kyiv's overriding objective remains ensuring "maximum safety" for Latvia, its Baltic neighbors, and Finland.

The diplomatic fallout stems from a May 7 incident in which multiple drones crossed into Latvian territory from Russia. Latvia's Foreign Ministry responded swiftly, summoning the Russian Embassy's chargé d'affaires to receive a formal protest note. The unmanned aircraft were tracked entering the eastern Latvian municipalities of Rezekne, Balvi, and Ludza.

Moscow, however, offered a sharply contradictory account — framing the episode as "an attempted Ukrainian terrorist attack on civilian infrastructure" near St. Petersburg, involving drones it claimed were launched from Latvian airspace.

Russia's Defense Ministry said its air defense systems intercepted six drones during the incident and separately reported detecting French-made Dassault Rafale and F-16 Fighting Falcon fighter jets operating over Latvian airspace.

Moscow further alleged that a Ukrainian-made An-196 Lyutyy drone had penetrated Russian airspace before being shot down near Pskov.

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