Russian ‘decoy drone’ fragments found washed up on Latvian beach

Fragments from a Russian drone have been found washed up on a beach in the Baltic republic of Latvia, the Latvian National Armed Forces reported on X on Thursday, the latest in several recent episodes involving Russian drones being discovered in NATO territory.

According to Andris Spruds, Latvia’s Defence Minister, the debris appears to be the tail section of a Russian Gerbera decoy drone, an unarmed UAV typically used to mimic the flight path of a combat drone in order to deceive enemy defences.

On Thursday, Latvian Prime Minister Evika Silina announced that she had been briefed that the fragments were not explosive, and added that she had asked Latvia’s defence and interior ministers to ask their Polish counterparts whether the drone was the same type as those shot down over Poland last week.

“Our priority has been to strengthen our Eastern border, but it is evident that it is equally important to protect our Baltic Sea coast by installing sensors where necessary,” Silina said.

According to Sargs.lv, a Latvian military news portal run by the country’s Defence Ministry, remnants of munitions or military objects are “regularly found” washed up on the coast of Latvia, which borders Russia and Belarus to its east.

In August, Lithuania — Latvia’s neighbour to the south — also reported that a crashed Gerbera drone had been discovered on its territory after flying in from across the Belarusian border.

Last week, Poland reported that 19 Russian drones — including Gerbera-type decoy drones — had committed an “unprecedented” breach of its airspace, prompting Warsaw to convene NATO-wide talks and call for a no-fly zone to be established in Ukraine due to the Russian drone incursions.