NATO fighter jets were scrambled after a drone entered Lithuanian airspace, prompting an urgent warning to residents by phone.
The drone crossed into Lithuania from neighbouring Belarus and flew west before NATO forces shot it down near Pratkunai, a village in the country’s central-southern region outside Kaunas.
An emergency alert was sent to mobile phones in Vilnius, Trakai and Elektrėnai shortly after midnight local time on Tuesday.
The drone was destroyed by NATO forces approximately 30 minutes after the warning was issued.
It was the first drone to be shot down over Lithuanian territory.
Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda wrote on X in the early hours of Tuesday: “A drone that just entered Lithuanian airspace was destroyed by NATO fighter jets. I thank Allied personnel for their swift response.”
He added: “With Russia intensifying its aggression against Ukraine, such readiness is vital for our region.”
“Together with our NATO Allies, Lithuania will defend its airspace,” he said.
A NATO fighter jet shot down a drone that entered Lithuanian airspace today (stock image)
Pratkunai, where the drone was brought down, lies more than 30 miles from the Belarusian border.
Lithuania shares much of its southern and eastern frontier with Belarus, a key Russian ally led by Alexander Lukashenko.
Lithuania’s armed forces and Italian pilots assigned to NATO’s Air Defence Mission “showed a swift and responsible response” to the incursion, the country’s Ministry of Defence said.
Drone sightings were also reported in Lithuania on Sunday. The crisis management centre later said an object had “likely” entered from Belarus and travelled across Lithuanian territory before moving into Russian airspace.
The September 13 incident did not result in any air threat alerts.
The latest development follows reports that Boris Johnson narrowly avoided a Russian drone that struck a train shortly after he had passed through the area.
The former prime minister was aboard a private train that was forced to speed up to reach Poland on Sunday morning morning after an incoming drone hundreds of kilometres away was detected.
Ever since the outbreak of Russia’s war on Ukraine, military drone incursions have become increasingly common across Europe.
On Monday night, Poland also announced there had been ‘aviation operations’ in its airspace ‘due to the activity of Russian Federation’s jet-powered unmanned aerial vehicles conducting strikes on Ukrainian territory’.
These measures are of a ‘preventive nature’ and are geared towards ‘securing airspace and its protection, especially in areas adjacent to threatened regions’, it added.
Residents in Lithuania’s capital had to take shelter across Vilnius in May after a drone alert was triggered, temporarily grounding flights and rail travel.
Nato jets have scrambled several times to shoot down stray Ukrainian drones that have entered into Baltic countries Estonia and Latvia this year.
Kyiv has blamed the stray drones on Moscow’s electronic warfare, technology designed to change the flight paths of Ukrainian drones.
Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia all signed up to Nato in 2004, becoming signatories to the Article 5 provision that states ‘an armed attack against one Nato member shall be considered an attack against all members’.
On Tuesday morning, the Lithuanian Foreign Minister, Kestutis Budrys, thanked allies ‘whose presence helps protect our skies and strengthens our security’.
‘This is best example of allied unity and resolve in action – sending a clear message that Nato stands vigilant, committed, and ready.’
On Monday, the Polish military discovered a suspected Russian drone from the sea on the Baltic coast in northern Poland.
Polish Defence Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz said: ‘The military has located and recovered a drone from the Baltic Sea near the beach in Rusinowo, close to Jaroslawiec.
‘Preliminary inspection indicates that it is a Russian military drone.’
A Polish armed forces spokesperson said the drone is understood to be a Gerbera – a cheap long-range aerial drone made of materials like plywood and foam.
They are often deployed as decoys but can also carry explosives.
It was recovered by a hydrographic vessel off the coast of the village of Rusinowo.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has repeatedly warned that Nato nations should expect an increase in provocations from the Kremlin.
