{"id":1546,"date":"2026-06-10T09:40:33","date_gmt":"2026-06-10T09:40:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/?p=1546"},"modified":"2026-06-10T09:40:33","modified_gmt":"2026-06-10T09:40:33","slug":"fear-of-ukrainian-drones-empties-the-guesthouses-in-latvias-land-of-blue-lakes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/?p=1546","title":{"rendered":"Fear of Ukrainian drones empties the guesthouses in Latvia’s Land of Blue Lakes"},"content":{"rendered":"
REZEKNE, Latvia, June 10 (Reuters) – At Birdwhistles Guesthouse, in a rustic two-storey wooden barn in the Latvian forest 50 km from the Russian border, all eight rooms are vacant, which absolutely never happens \u200bthis time of year, says the owner, Martins Kiscenko.<\/div>
Two wedding parties had been booked to \u200cstay, but the couples cancelled at the last minute, because they didn’t want their guests to have to scramble for shelter from a drone alert.<\/div>
Eastern Latvia is an extraordinarily tranquil and picturesque woodland region known as the Land of Blue Lakes, where there’s \u200busually not a huge amount to do, which is exactly why tourists come every summer.<\/div>
There’s fishing in \u200bthe cold clear waters. Birdwatching. Hiking through forests of birches straight as poles. And \u2060at the end of the day, maybe singing some folk songs in a cozy cabin.<\/div>
But faced with the \u200bprospect of being interrupted to find shelter from stray Ukrainian attack drones, tourists are staying away, and some 500 \u200bsmall businesses that rely on them are heading for financial trouble, said Jelena Kijasko of the regional tourism industry association.<\/div>
Since late May, no drones arrived for two weeks. That gave rise to hope that the situation had improved. But then, on Monday, a \u200bFrench NATO jet was forced to shoot another drone down.<\/div>
Alas, “now we know it will not be so easy,” Kijasko told \u200bReuters, hours after the incident.<\/div>
Stray Ukrainian military drones have been entering the airspace of Latvia and its Baltic neighbours since March. Kyiv \u200cand \u2060the NATO countries say the weapons have been diverted from intended targets in Russia by Russian signal jamming.<\/div>
No one has been hurt, but the incursions have triggered regular orders to residents to seek shelter. That’s impossible in Kiscenko’s wooden guesthouse, which has no basement or heavy walls: “That was not a requirement when I built it,” he says \u200bdryly.<\/div>
Last month, two drones exploded \u200bin the middle of \u2060the town of Rezekne, where sightseers normally come to view a ruined hilltop castle. Two other drones hit an oil storage facility nearby, causing a fire.<\/div>
The authorities are trying to help \u200bpersuade Latvians that the area is nonetheless safe to holiday as usual. Prime Minister \u200bAndris Kulbergs \u2060is planning to spend his summer vacation in the region, his spokesperson told Reuters.<\/div>
But it may be too late. Kijasko said a survey by her association of tourism businesses showed 85% of them faced cancellations due to drone fears, with \u2060some \u200blosing over half of their future business.<\/div>
Kijasko insisted it was silly \u200bfor tourists to stay away.<\/div>
“We live here and we don’t feel ourselves particularly endangered,” she said. “The probability of being in a road accident in \u200bRiga is much, much higher than having a drone fall on your head in the forest.”<\/div>