Two Italian Eurofighter Typhoons operating under NATO command scrambled overnight and destroyed a drone in Lithuanian airspace, officials said Tuesday. It was the first known instance of a drone being shot down over the Baltic country.
The incident occurred fewer than 24 hours after NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte warned that attacks near alliance territory would prompt the 32-member bloc to expand its support for Ukraine.
The drone was brought down near Pratkūnai, a village roughly 60 miles northwest of Lithuania’s capital, Vilnius.
Lithuanian soldiers are securing the site where Italian fighter jets assigned to NATO’s Baltic Air Policing Mission shot down a drone early Tuesday near Pratkunai village in the Kaisiadorys district, about 60 miles northwest of Vilnius, Lithuania, Sept. 15, 2026.
“Two Italian Eurofighters deployed to NATO’s air defense mission at Siauliai scrambled last night and shot down a drone over Lithuanian airspace,” a NATO official told News Outlet. “The mission was coordinated by NATO’s Combined Air Operations Centre in Uedem, Germany. Investigations are continuing with national authorities.”
Lithuanian officials said the aircraft most likely crossed the border from neighboring Belarus and flew through Lithuanian airspace for approximately 30 minutes before being intercepted.
Lithuanian soldiers are guarding the area where Italian fighter jets participating in NATO’s Baltic Air Policing Mission shot down a drone early Tuesday near Pratkunai village. (AP Photo)
Lithuanian Air Force Commander Antanas Matutis said the drone recovered from the crash site was “likely” carrying explosives.
Investigators are analyzing the wreckage in an effort to establish where the drone came from and what mission it was carrying out.
The shootdown comes as tensions continue to rise along NATO’s eastern flank.
Rutte said in Brussels on Monday that strikes “close to NATO territory” reflected Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “desperation and also his desire to sow fear and terror.”
“Russia is growing increasingly reckless as it continues its terrible war against Ukraine,” Rutte said, promising to reinforce NATO’s defenses along the alliance’s eastern border.
Wreckage of a drone that was shot down by a NATO fighter jet, according to Lithuania’s national crisis management center, lies near Pratkunai village on Sept. 15, 2026, in this still image from a video released by authorities. (Lithuanian Army/Handout via Reuters)
In a separate development Tuesday, Denmark said a Russian frigate fired flares toward a Danish military helicopter carrying out routine surveillance over the Baltic Sea. Copenhagen summoned Russia’s ambassador following the encounter.
At the same time, Russia continued launching drone attacks across Ukraine. Ukrainian officials said strikes killed three people in Kyiv, Sloviansk and Kramatorsk.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Kyiv remained ready to support de-escalation if the U.S. could ensure Russia was prepared to stop its attacks. Ukrainian forces also struck an oil refinery in Syzran and targeted a drone production facility in Taganrog, he said.
