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When stray drones start to topple governments
Summary
Two reports from 28 and 29 May 2026 show how drone incursions from the war in Ukraine reached into the politics and daily life of NATO neighbours.
What does the war in Ukraine look like when it spills across a border? On 30 May 2026, two recent reports offered a answer from opposite ends of the region.
On 29 May, a Russian drone entered Romanian airspace during an attack on Ukraine and crashed into an apartment building in Galați. The impact caused a fire and injured two people. The incident was listed among violations of non-combatant airspace during the Russo-Ukrainian war and within the wider account of Russia–NATO relations.
A day earlier, on 28 May, the Latvian Saeima approved a four-party coalition government led by prime minister Andris Kulbergs. It followed the collapse of Evika Siliņa's administration, which came after disputes over how to handle suspected Ukrainian drones entering Latvian airspace.
Two kinds of cost
The cases differ. In Romania, the cost was physical: a residential building hit and two people hurt. In Latvia, it was political: a government fell over how to respond to drones.
Taken together, they show that airspace violations by drones are not confined to the battlefield. They can bring harm to civilians in one country and a change of government in another. Both reports came within two days of each other.
