A drone of unknown origin, coming from Russian space, hit a chimney of a power plant in Estonia. Two more drones entered Latvia

The incidents took place at a time when the Russian port of Ust-Luga in the Baltic Sea, located 25 kilometers from the border with Estonia, was the target of an attack by Ukrainian drones, write Reuters and the website of the Estonian public television station.

A drone that entered Estonian territory from Russian airspace hit a chimney of the Auvere power plant in Ida-Viru County early Wednesday morning.

No one was injured in the incident, and the energy infrastructure was not damaged. Latvian authorities said two drones also entered Latvian airspace last night.

The incidents came at a time when the Russian port of Ust-Luga in the Baltic Sea was the target of a Ukrainian drone attack, while oil installations in the port of Primorsk, located on the other side of the Gulf of Finland from Ust-Luga, have been burning for more than two days.

The drone was not headed for Estonia.

Officials provided the first information on Wednesday. “On the night of March 25, at 3:43 a.m., a drone struck the chimney of the Auvere power plant. No one was injured in the accident,” said a spokesperson for the Homeland Security Service (ISS).

The prosecutor's office stated that the drone was not intentionally aimed at the Auvere power plant or Estonia in general.

“According to current information, the drone was not directed to Estonia. Initial measures are currently being taken, and the investigation will clarify more specific circumstances,” the state's attorney general, Astrid Asi, said in a press release.

Estonian government in emergency session

The Minister of Justice, Liisa-Ly Pakosta (Eesti 200), said on Wednesday morning for ERR that the government was going to meet in an emergency meeting, in connection with a security incident.

“These are the consequences of Russia's large-scale war of aggression. We can expect to see more incidents like this,” said Margo Palloson, ISS director general.

Two drones in Latvia

Latvian public broadcaster LSM reported in turn that on Wednesday morning, the Latvian Air Force identified a foreign drone that entered Latvian airspace from Russia.

Early warning systems detected an explosion-like noise in the Krāslava region, LSM said.

The object that entered Latvia exploded around 2:30 a.m., said Egils Leščinskis, deputy chief of staff of the Latvian National Armed Forces, after it had been detected by Latvian radar just over 10 minutes earlier.

“Most likely, the aircraft deviated from the course or was affected by electromagnetic warfare measures while protecting some technically important targets,” Leščinskis noted when asked if the flight path was intentional.

Latvian Prime Minister Evika Silina said in an interview with TV3's “900 Seconds” on Wednesday morning that Ukraine suffered one of the biggest Russian attacks on Tuesday, at a time when Western attention was distracted by events in the Middle East.

The drone that crashed in Latvia may be of Ukrainian origin, Silina said, noting that a similar incident had previously occurred in Lithuania.

She described the incident in Auvere as a “similar” one and stressed that, at a time when attacks on Ukraine are frequent, one must take into account their consequences in the border regions of the Baltic states.

Another drone entered Latvian airspace from Belarus

Lithuania: Discussions ongoing with Ukraine regarding the Varena drone incident

Lithuanian public broadcaster LRT had in turn reported that a Ukrainian attack drone crashed and exploded late Monday in a sparsely populated region in the country's south, near the border with Belarus.

Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kęstutis Budrys said on Wednesday that talks with Ukraine on the issue had begun.

According to information, a resident of Varena district, Dzukija region, filmed an explosion.

On Tuesday, Lithuanian authorities confirmed that it was an errant Ukrainian drone headed for Primorsk that had flown over Belarus before the incident.

Lithuania deployed air defenses near Vilnius after two Gerbera drones used by Russia crashed in the country last July.