UAV event in Lake Drīdzis area, Latvia on Sat 23rd May 2026

A drone is reported to have crashed into Lake Drīdzis in Krāslava region in eastern Latvia on Saturday morning at around 08:00. It detonated upon contact with the water. There were no injuries, the State Police reported.

Police received information about this from residents and went to investigate the scene. Wreckage of a suspected drone has been found there.

The area to be surveyed is extensive, so additional forces have been deployed to inspect the scene, including an additional State Police unit with a drone, State Fire and Rescue Service personnel with a boat, and the National Armed Forces (NBS). Work is continuing at the scene.

The National Armed Forces (NBS) said that their sensors did not detect a drone entering Latvian territory. Therefore, no mobile broadcast notification was sent out to the public at all.

Nothing detected

"The sensor information was not sufficient to activate the cellular broadcast," Māris Tūtins, Head of the Information Analysis and Management Department of the NAF Joint Staff, told LSM.

"I am in contact with the responsible services working in the Krāslava region in the vicinity of Lake Drīdzis after the crash and explosion of an unmanned aerial vehicle in the lake. I expect the services to provide as much detailed information as possible about the circumstances of the incident and further action," said Prime Minister Evika Siliņa.

Lake Drīdzis is located around 20 kilometres from the border with Belarus and around 100 kilometres from the border with Russia.

Eyewitness

Latvian Radio spoke with eyewitness Vadims Stepanovs, who saw the drone crash.

"At that moment I was at Lake Drīdzis, fishing. Then I saw it flying. At first I thought it was a "Kukuruzņiks" [vintage An-2 aeroplane]. Then I looked and saw that something smaller was flying. It sounded like a moped. Then I realized that something was wrong.

It flew over the lake, turned back, flew over the island and then its engine shut down and it dived into the lake and exploded. 

I was about 1 to 1.5 kilometers away. There was no cell broadcast announcement today," Stepanovs said.

Residents are urged to stay away from the scene, follow official information and immediately report any possible drone debris to the police.

Response services continued to work at the scene on Saturday evening, and, taking into account the vast territory to be surveyed, did not predict the duration of their work. Criminal proceedings have been initiated into the incident in accordance with Chapter 10 of the Criminal Law - crimes against the state, the State Police said. This is standard procedure and does imply any suspects responsible for the drone flight have been identified.