NATO fighter jets shot down a drone that entered Lithuanian airspace overnight, Lithuanian authorities said, as officials continued to investigate its origin and who was operating it.
Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda confirmed the incident, saying the drone was destroyed by NATO aircraft after entering the country’s airspace.
According to Lithuanian authorities, the drone entered southern Lithuania near Kaunas, the country’s second-largest city, shortly after midnight on Tuesday. Officials said it appeared to have crossed into Lithuania from Belarus.
“A drone that had just entered Lithuanian airspace was destroyed by NATO fighter jets,” Nausėda said in a statement posted on X.
A spokesperson for Lithuania’s National Crisis Management Center said authorities had not yet established where the drone came from or who was operating it.
Drone alerts were activated earlier on Tuesday in Vilnius and surrounding areas.
NATO aircraft respond to airspace violation
Lithuania’s Defense Ministry said the country’s armed forces and Italian pilots serving as part of NATO’s air-policing mission responded “quickly and responsibly” to the airspace violation.
Nausėda stressed that maintaining a high level of readiness was particularly important as Russia continues its war against Ukraine.
“Together with our NATO allies, Lithuania will defend its airspace,” he said.
Moscow had not commented on the incident at the time of publication.
Lithuania shares significant portions of its southern and eastern borders with Belarus, Russia’s close ally and a key staging ground for Russian military operations.
Growing drone incidents across NATO’s eastern flank
The incident was not the first suspected drone incursion reported in Lithuania in recent days.
On Sunday, drone activity was reported in the country, with Lithuania’s National Crisis Management Center later saying that an object had likely entered from Belarus, crossed Lithuanian territory and subsequently entered Russian airspace. The September 13 incident did not trigger an air-raid alert.
Poland also announced on Monday that it had conducted “air operations” in its airspace because of Russian drone activity linked to attacks against Ukraine. Warsaw described the measures as precautionary and aimed at protecting Polish airspace, particularly areas close to threatened regions.
Drone-related airspace incidents have become increasingly common across Europe since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
NATO aircraft have been scrambled several times this year in response to drones entering the airspace of Baltic states, including Estonia and Latvia. Ukrainian officials have attributed some incidents to Russian electronic warfare, arguing that Russian systems may interfere with the flight paths of Ukrainian drones.
In May, residents of Vilnius were ordered to take shelter after a drone alert was activated, while flights and rail services were briefly disrupted.
Baltic states covered by NATO’s Article 5
Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia joined NATO in 2004 and are covered by Article 5 of the Alliance’s founding treaty, under which an armed attack against one member is considered an attack against all members.
The repeated drone incidents have heightened attention to the security of NATO’s eastern flank, particularly as the Alliance continues to strengthen air-defense and surveillance capabilities in the Baltic region.
