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What the Latvian government's fall revealed on 15 May 2026
Summary
A look back at the political fallout from stray drones in the Baltic region, and at personnel changes in Russia's border regions.
Why did a drone dispute bring down a government in Riga? On 15 May 2026, the question was in focus after Latvian prime minister Evika Siliņa resigned on 14 May, one day after losing her majority in the Saeima. The dispute centred on the handling of Ukrainian drone incursions into Latvia's airspace.
The drones behind the crisis
Several Ukrainian or suspected Ukrainian military drones entered the airspace of NATO members in the Baltic region in March and May 2026, including the Baltic states and Finland. They had crossed from Russia during Ukrainian long-range attacks on Russian targets in the Baltic Sea region. The incidents occurred during a wider Ukrainian campaign against Russian oil export infrastructure, including repeated strikes on the ports of Ust-Luga and Primorsk.
Changes on the Russian side
On 13 May 2026, Russian president Vladimir Putin replaced the governors of two border regions amid continuing cross-border attacks. In Belgorod, army general Alexander Shuvaev took over from Vyacheslav Gladkov. In Bryansk Oblast, former occupation official Yegor Kovalchuk replaced Alexander Bogomaz.
The two developments were separate, but both showed how the war's cross-border dimension was reshaping politics beyond Ukraine. In Latvia, the handling of the incursions cost the prime minister her parliamentary majority and then her post. In Russia, the border regions that were under continuing attack received new governors.
Later in 2026, according to background accounts, a Russian civilian-type Geoscan 701 surveillance drone was discovered in Finland in September, described as the first such incident there involving a Russian drone.
