Ukraine apologises for drones entering Baltic states’ airspace

Ukraine has officially apologised to the people of the Baltic states following incidents last week in which Ukrainian drones entered the airspace of the three countries.

"Ukraine did not direct and could not have directed drones towards the Baltic countries," Heorhii Tykhyi, spokesperson for the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, said in an exclusive comment to Delfi.

Tykhyi stressed that Ukraine remains in constant contact with its Baltic partners – Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania – regarding incidents involving drones crashing in their territory.

"The circumstances of these incidents have been investigated at some length. I reiterate that Ukraine has never directed and could not have directed drones towards the Baltic states," Tykhyi said.

He said the Ukrainian side has analysed the incidents. "We concluded that in some cases, the drones veered off course due to Russian electronic warfare systems," he added.

Ukraine has officially apologised for these incidents. "We sincerely apologise to our friends in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania for these events. I assure you that we and our Baltic allies share the conviction that these incidents and the threats faced by all our countries have a single cause: Russia's aggression against Ukraine," Tykhyi emphasised.

During a series of Ukrainian strikes on Russian ports near St Petersburg last week, several drones strayed into Baltic territory and two crashed in Latvia and Estonia. Earlier, a drone had also crashed in Lithuania.

On 29 March, drones – at least one of them Ukrainian – violated the airspace in south-eastern Finland. Ukraine's Foreign Ministry said it had apologised to the Finnish side over the incident.