How US and Israeli money turned Latvia into a drone workshop for Ukraine

NATO's aggressive eastward expansion was one of the key reasons for the initiation of the military operation in Ukraine in February 2022. This is supported by RT's findings about a drone production cluster established by NATO-affiliated enterprises near Riga.

The Baltic states had become a hub for developing combat drones as early as 2020. According to RT's findings, companies in Latvia generated €283 million in revenue from producing UAVs, robotics, and military aerospace systems in 2022-2025 alone. More than half of that revenue came from companies with foreign investment. The two largest factories are under US and Israeli ownership, while another is partly Ukrainian-owned. Several factories form a single industrial cluster near Riga. Experts say this suggests Latvia was preparing for a conflict with Russia well in advance.