United to win: Latvia sends 1,000 drones to Ukraine in support of military efforts

Latvia has readied over 1,000 drones to send to Ukraine, with various types confirmed.

The Minister of Defense of Latvia, Andris Spruds, reported that on the social network X (Twitter).

According to Spruds, Ukraine's last batch of drones this year consists of over 1,000 combat drones of various types.

^{Photo: x.com/AndrisSpruds}

"Together with Latvian drone manufacturers, we continue to support Ukraine.

The last batch has been prepared, consisting of over 1,000 combat drones of various types," Spruds wrote.

He recalled that Latvia and the United Kingdom led the drone coalition. According to the minister, Latvia will allocate another 20 million euros in 2025 to purchase drones within the alliance.

As reported, Latvia will allocate 0.25% of its gross domestic product annually to support Ukraine until 2026, which is about 10% of the defense budget.

For reference:

On January 18, the creation of the Coalition of Drones and Radio-Electronic Warfare was reported.

Latvia initiated the creation of the Coalition. The initiative was announced during a December 2023 meeting between its Minister of Defense, Andris Spruds, and the Minister of Defense of Ukraine, Rustem Umerov.

As of April 2024, the drone coalition led by Latvia has already collected almost 500 million euros to purchase drones for Ukraine.

Latvia also provides a drone testing ground to industrial and military enterprises to continuously improve drone technology.

In addition, Latvia will transfer more than 2,500 drones to Ukraine in July, costing about 4 million euros. The deliveries will take place within Latvia's "drone coalition."

Great Britain has announced an industry competition for developing and procuring FPV drones, which has received 265 applications. These proposals are currently under assessment, and the initial contracts are anticipated to be signed in August.

Currently, the International Drone Coalition includes 14 countries – Latvia, Ukraine, Great Britain, Australia, Germany, Denmark, Italy, Canada, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, Great Britain, France, Sweden and Estonia.

Earlier, Denmark, France, and Lithuania provided 150 million euros for Ukrainian weapons. The funds will be used to produce missiles, drones, and artillery systems.

Lithuania has recently announced that it will provide the initial funds for weapons production in Ukraine. These funds will be provided through the "Danish initiative." According to current agreements, the first installment of 10 million euros from Lithuania will go towards implementing the "Danish initiative" within this year.