A drone that crashed and exploded in Varėna district may have been Ukrainian

Lithuanian Defence Minister Robertas Kaunas said preliminary information indicates the drone was likely Ukrainian and may have strayed due to electronic warfare interference.

Speaking at the Presidential Palace on Tuesday, Kaunas said the drone appeared to be part of a swarm that had targeted the port of Primorsko in Ukraine. “It is very likely that this is a Ukrainian drone affected by electronic warfare measures, which caused it to lose its way and crash here,” he told reporters.

He added that neither Lithuania nor Belarus detected the drone, which flew below 300 metres, and investigations were ongoing.

The Defence Ministry has classified the incident as a possible war crime and the Prosecutor’s Office has opened an investigation.

Drones of the Shahed type have been repeatedly detected in Lithuanian airspace in recent months, with authorities attributing them to Russian forces operating from Belarusian territory.