Sprūds Cuts Short Ukraine Visit to Consult on Why Drones Don't Fall in Liepāja

Defense Minister Andris Sprūds has cut short his working visit to Ukraine and urgently returned to Latvia to consult with NATO allies about why all drones fall everywhere except Liepāja. While ministers in Riga frantically call each other on phones, Liepāja residents calmly continued their daily lives, convinced that even drones bypass our city.

As it turns out, Ukrainian drones intended for Russian targets have gone astray and crashed in Krāslava, Estonia, and Lithuania. A local expert comments: "Well, of course they didn't hit Liepāja — we have such strong winds here that even drones are afraid to fly. Even the hockey heat in Liepāja's cold ice hall arena is safer than our airspace."

Sprūds emphasized that these are consequences of Russia's aggressive warfare from which the Baltic states are not protected. True, Liepāja seems to be protected — not only from drones, but also from government attention and investments. While Riga worries about airspace, we here worry about whether there will be heating in winter.

The only thing falling from the sky in Liepāja is snow and rain. Even Ukrainian drones aren't on our route — they go to Russia, we go to Ventspils to shop. But the minister promised to go to the incident site in Krāslava, so at least he'll find out what Latvia looks like outside of Riga.