Lithuania unable to locate drone that triggered air raid alerts

The drone that prompted air raid warnings in Lithuania on Wednesday has vanished from radar, with authorities unsure whether it crashed inside the country or left its airspace, the head of the National Crisis Management Centre (NKVC) said.

Speaking at a press conference, NKVC director Vilmantas Vitkauskas confirmed the last radar detection placed the object near Merkine in southern Lithuania before it disappeared at 11:09 AM. Search operations are ongoing in the Gudžiai area of Varėna district, but no wreckage has been found.

The alerts began after Latvian authorities reported a yellow-level air threat—indicating a potential military object—near Daugavpils, close to the Lithuanian border. Lithuanian radars later tracked an unidentified object entering its airspace near Ignalina at approximately 9:40 AM, moving toward Vilnius.

Residents in Vilnius, Ignalina, Zarasai, Švenčionys, and Utena received emergency notifications urging them to seek shelter. Vilnius county issued a red-level alert, the highest threat classification, though sirens were not activated. Vitkauskas explained that by the time sirens were prepared, the drone had already moved beyond the area, and activating them risked causing unnecessary panic.

“The public alert system via mobile phones was more effective in this case,” he stated, acknowledging minor confusion in some schools and institutions over shelter procedures.

Authorities have not determined the drone’s origin, type, or whether it carried explosives. Vitkauskas described it as likely a drone based on its altitude and speed but declined to speculate further. NATO’s Baltic air policing mission was activated during the incident but stood down after the threat was lifted.

Lithuanian media earlier reported criticism over inconsistent responses from educational institutions during the alert.