Raivis Melnis walks down a long corridor inside Latvia’s Ministry of Defense, located in an aging building in central Riga, the capital. He shows up all alone, a striking oddity for someone with government responsibility. Born 48 years ago in the Balvi municipality, about 20 kilometers (12 miles) from the Russian border, the Latvian army colonel has held the defense portfolio since late May. That was when several attack drones penetrated the Baltic country’s airspace without encountering any opposition. Two struck near an empty fuel depot. The crisis prompted then–prime minister Evika Silina to dismiss the defense minister and turn to Melnis.
