Lithuania to discuss drone incidents with Ukraine after crashes in Baltic states

Lithuania’s defence minister will raise the issue of Ukrainian drones crashing in the Baltics during talks with his Ukrainian counterpart in Kyiv, following incidents in Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia this week, LRT reports.

Defence Minister Robertas Kaunas stated that Ukraine is not to blame for Russia’s war but stressed the need to prevent similar incidents in the future and minimise their consequences. “I will discuss with Ukraine’s defence minister how we can avoid such situations going forward,” he said in a statement from the Ministry of National Defence.

Kaunas called the crashes a “clear signal” for stronger NATO defences on the alliance’s eastern flank, urging greater capabilities and faster EU investment—including in initiatives like the Eastern Flank Watch and European Drone Wall. He suggested Lithuania’s current security challenges could have been mitigated had defence spending reached 4–5% of GDP as early as 2020.

“The situation is not good, nor could it be otherwise when neighbouring countries are waging the largest war since World War II,” Kaunas said. “We’re not looking for excuses—we’re working to change it. Things might look very different now if we’d allocated 4–5% to defence starting in 2020.”

The incidents began early Tuesday when a drone, believed to be Ukrainian, struck the chimney of Auvere power plant in northeastern Estonia after reportedly launching from Russia. The same night, Latvia reported a drone—also suspected to be Ukrainian—entering its airspace from Russia before exploding. Lithuania’s military later confirmed a drone had crashed and detonated in Varėna district on Monday night, though radar had not detected it. Authorities found no explosives at the site but did not rule out their presence.

Prime Minister Ingrida Ruginienė confirmed on Tuesday that the drone in Lithuania was Ukrainian. Police completed their on-site inspection that evening, collecting debris from the crash.