NATO fighter jets were scrambled twice overnight after suspected drone incursions triggered air alerts across large parts of Lithuania. At least one drone entered the country’s airspace before flying into Latvia.
The first yellow alert was issued in the Vilnius and Utena regions at around 11 p.m. on Tuesday (2000 GMT) and was lifted shortly after midnight. A second alert was later declared in the Alytus region, expanded to parts of central and northern Lithuania and upgraded to red, urging residents to seek shelter.
Vilmantas Vitkauskas, head of Lithuania’s National Crisis Management Centre, said three drones had initially been detected in Belarus during the first incident, but none entered Lithuanian airspace then; one later entered Latvia.
During the second incident, a drone was believed to have entered Lithuania from Belarus near the southern town of Druskininkai, flying north across several regions before leaving the country’s airspace near Pasvalys. Vitkauskas said NATO fighter jets detected the object but did not shoot it down, possibly because of poor weather or safety concerns.
Vilnius and Kaunas airports were temporarily closed. Three flights at Vilnius Airport were affected, disrupting travel for more than 400 passengers.
Latvia’s National Armed Forces issued an airspace threat warning for several municipalities early on Wednesday, activating drone interceptors, air defence units and NATO air policing jets. The number of drones involved and whether any crashed or were shot down remained unclear.
Source: TRT World
Note: The featured image is illustrative only, not a photo of the actual event.
