Rihards
4.8K posts
@RihardsPP
Foreign news correspondent. Latvijas Radio. https://t.co/4gPmAa8KbD
The pretext for a Russian action of some type in the Baltics is slowly building.
Russia continues to redirect Ukrainian drones into the Baltics with the use of its electronic warfare. And Moscow does this on purpose, together with intensified propaganda. We apologise to Estonia and all of our Baltic friends for such unintended incidents. We have been and remain in close cooperation between our specialised institutions to get to the heart of the matter in each case and seek ways to prevent them, including with the direct engagement of our expert groups. We reiterate that — contrary to Russian propaganda claims — neither Estonia, nor Latvia, Lithuania, of Finland have ever allowed to use their airspace for strikes against Russia. Furthermore, Ukraine has never requested such a use. Ukraine exercises its right to self-defense under Art. 51 of the UN Charter; our legitimate military targets are located in Russia; and we use the Russian airspace to get to them. The Russians have no right to blame Ukraine, the Baltic states, or Finland for the consequences of its actions and, more broadly, its war of aggression. We are grateful to our partners in Estonia, Finland, Latvia, and Lithuania for their support and solidarity.
A German friend told me today he was struck by how Ukraine seemed to be regaining control over the dynamics of the war. I would not call it a strategic turn yet. But the shift is real. Here are three reasons why👇
😭😭😭😭 - This is my grandfather, and this is my son, missing without a trace. - So that means you're having a double holiday today. Congratulations!
I was glad to speak with my good friend and colleague from Latvia @Braze_Baiba. We are in close contact with Latvia over the recent drone incidents, and our competent authorities are sharing information to get to the bottom of what happened. If there is a confirmation that those were Ukrainian drones that were deliberately knocked off course and directed toward Latvia by Russia’s electronic warfare, we will offer our most sincere apologies to our Latvian friends. What can be stated with full confidence is that Ukraine never directed any drones toward Latvia. We have already expressed our apologies to all three Baltic states, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, as well as Finland, for the unintended incidents that were caused by Russia’s EW systems redirecting Ukrainian drones. Our specialized institutions are working closely together to minimize risks of such incidents repeating. Under President @ZelenskyyUa’s instructions, we are also considering a possibility of sending Ukrainian expert teams to help directly strengthen the airspace security of our friends against any types of incidents.
