Kulbergs, 47, a former racing driver, came to power in May after ‌a previous coalition crumbled over its handling of incidents in which stray military drones flew undetected into Latvia. Though the drones were Ukrainian, officials have blamed Russia for causing them to divert from their flight paths.

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Baltic officials have warned for months Russia is mounting sabotage, cyber- and other hybrid attacks across Europe to erode support for Ukraine and sow fear, although they dismiss concerns it is capable of launching a direct assault on NATO.

Russia says ​such accusations are baseless and the result of anti-Russian hysteria.

Throughout his campaign, Kulbergs has promised "unwavering support to Ukraine" and more anti-drone capabilities for Latvia.
Polls open at 8 ​a.m. (0500 GMT) on Saturday and close at 8 p.m., with the first results expected within hours and the final result likely to be clear ⁠after midnight.
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Kulbergs' centrist United List party leads the polls, though with only 14.4% of the vote, and putting a coalition together will likely be a tough ​task, with seven parties expected to win seats in parliament.

"The Ukraine war has divided our society. A lot of people do not share the same outlook," Kulbergs told Reuters in the capital ​Riga on Wednesday.

"A pretty large part of society does not perceive Russia as a threat, they do not understand why the government is investing big money in defence ... They are mistaken."

The pro-Russian Sovereign Power, which draws support from Latvia's substantial Russian-speaking minority, is running second in opinion polls with 9.4%.

It pledges to stop help to Ukraine's war effort, and its leader Julia Stepanenko refused to state whether she supported economic sanctions ​on Russia. "Our voters want peace," she told Reuters.