The number of injured soldiers in Latvia is rising: what is happening in the army?

This became known today, October 20, when the government approved the redistribution of 505,688 euros for social guarantees for military personnel and military pensioners. The Ministry of Defense acknowledges: expenses for benefits and compensations in 2026 significantly exceeded last year's figures. One of the reasons is the increase in the number of young people undergoing military service. The more servicemen participate in training, the more injuries are recorded. At the same time, the ministry does not specify how many servicemen were injured, what injuries they sustained, and under what circumstances the accidents occurred. Therefore, it cannot yet be definitively stated that service in the Latvian army has become more dangerous. To make such a conclusion, it is necessary to compare not only the total number of injuries but also the number of injured per thousand servicemen. Moreover, the increase in expenses is not only related to injuries. Military pensions are rising, medical care is becoming more expensive, and the number of recipients of the corresponding social guarantees has increased by 15%. The main question that remains unanswered is whether the increase in injuries is solely related to the growth in the size of the army or if there are issues with the safety of military training. The published information from the Ministry of Defense does not contain data that would allow answering this question. A check of additional open sources also did not provide confirmed statistics on injuries for 2025 and 2026. Thus, the increase in the number of injuries is officially acknowledged, but its scale and causes require further clarification.