Latvian Defense Minister Andris Produs resigned after an incident involving two drones flying in the country’s airspace a few days ago, LSM TV reported.
“I have decided to resign from the position of Minister of Defense in order to protect the Latvian army from being drawn into a political campaign,” Spruds said.
The minister added that Latvia has faced serious incidents involving drones in recent weeks. He said that unlicensed drones should not threaten people’s safety, and noted that the defense sector has done and will continue to do a lot to protect the country’s airspace and ensure a sense of security among citizens.
Andres Sprudes said he did not leave because he stopped believing in the work being done. He added: “I am resigning because the armed forces and the state’s defense capabilities are more important than any ministerial position and the interests of any party.”
Latvian Prime Minister Ivica Selina booksThat Sprudes lost her and the public’s trust. “I decided to demand his resignation. In the future, the defense sector must be headed by a professional,” she said. The Prime Minister said the drone incident showed defense leaders had “failed to deliver on their promise of safe skies”.
At the same time, the head of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry Andriy Sepiga on the same day maleInvestigations showed that the drone incident was the result of Russian electronic warfare systems that “deliberately diverted Ukrainian drones from their targets on Russian territory.”
After publication, we added to this news the statement of Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sepiga, who confirmed the Latvian Defense Minister’s assumption that the drones are Ukrainian, and corrected the headline.
The last drone incident in Latvia occurred on the night of May 7, when two drones from Russia flew into the country’s airspace. One of the drones fell on the territory of the East-West Transit oil company branch in Rezekne (a city close to the Russian border). The drone hit an empty oil tank.
Sprudes then said that according to preliminary information, we are probably talking about drones sent from Ukraine to targets in Russia. He added, “These are just assumptions,” and stressed that Ukraine “has every right to defend itself and strike targets on Russian territory.”
After the incident, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Latvia Named The Russian Chargé d’Affaires submits a note of protest. He was told that Russia, by waging an aggressive war against Ukraine, was creating security risks in the wider region – and that Latvia had never given permission to use its airspace to launch Ukrainian drones at targets in Russia.