Ukrainian drone expert says Baltic states face no threat as Russia remains sole target

Ukrainian drone operations pose no risk to the Baltic states, as their sole objective is to strike targets inside Russia, a Ukrainian drone expert told Lithuanian National Radio and Television (LRT) on Wednesday.

Anatoliy Khrapchynskyi, a reserve officer in Ukraine’s military air forces, dismissed concerns following recent incidents where drones believed to be Ukrainian entered Baltic airspace. He attributed such cases to Russian electronic warfare disrupting drone navigation systems, causing unintended deviations from their planned routes.

“Our drones are programmed to reach their final destination in Russia, so there is no threat to the Baltic states,” Khrapchynskyi stated. He emphasised that Ukraine’s engineering efforts focus on developing long-range drones capable of bypassing Russian air defences without relying on third-country territory.

Addressing speculation that Ukraine might be using Baltic airspace to launch attacks on Russia, Khrapchynskyi denied the claims outright. “Ukraine operates exclusively from Russian territory—we do not even use Belarusian airspace,” he said. He added that Ukraine’s control systems ensure drones avoid violating the territory of allied nations, contrasting this with Russian aircraft, which have been known to jettison ordnance over their own territory.

Khrapchynskyi called for stronger cooperation between Ukraine and European nations, including the Baltic states, in countering Russian threats. He noted that Russian drones have also entered Baltic airspace in the past, urging a unified approach to air defence rather than isolated reactions to individual incidents.

“The enemy actively uses information warfare to provoke disputes among allies,” he warned, suggesting that reports of Ukrainian drones in the Baltics could be part of a Russian disinformation effort.

The expert’s comments follow a March 26 incident in which a drone, suspected to be Ukrainian, struck a chimney at Estonia’s Auvere power plant after straying from its intended path.