Lithuania deploys helicopter and 100 troops in continued search for missing drone

The search for a drone that entered Lithuanian airspace on Wednesday before disappearing from radar will continue on Thursday, with reinforcements including a helicopter and up to 100 ground troops, the country’s military chief announced.

Lithuanian Armed Forces Commander Gen. Raimundas Vaikšnoras told LRT radio that poor weather had forced search teams to suspend operations overnight. “Unfortunately, we didn’t find it,” he said. “Today, additional assets will be deployed—the weather looks decent, clouds aren’t too low—so a helicopter will be used, along with up to 100 troops from land forces and military police to resume the search.”

Vaikšnoras urged residents to share any footage or sightings of the drone, noting that public reports could help “identify or locate possible crash sites.” Authorities have received numerous leads but continue to seek witness accounts.

Initial warnings about the drone came from Belarusian services, though Vaikšnoras said Lithuanian officials first contacted Minsk via a hotline after detecting unusual aerial activity near the border. “At first, they denied it, but eventually confirmed there was a risk the drone could enter our territory,” he explained.

The commander stressed that while the hotline had been underused, it remained critical for “avoiding technical misunderstandings” during incidents. “Regardless of political tensions, these channels are necessary,” he added.

The drone triggered a cascade of emergency measures on Wednesday. NATO fighter jets were scrambled after radar detected an unidentified object with drone-like characteristics near the border. Airspace over Vilnius Airport was temporarily closed, train operations in the Vilnius region were halted, and air raid alerts were issued for residents in Ignalina, Utena, Švenčionys, Zarasai, and later Vilnius districts. All warnings were lifted by 10:51 AM local time.

Vilmantas Vitkauskas, head of Lithuania’s National Crisis Management Centre, said the drone crossed into Lithuanian airspace around 9:40 AM but vanished from radar near Merkine at approximately 11:09 AM. While the possibility of a crash remains, Vitkauskas did not rule out that the drone may have re-entered Belarusian airspace, where it was first observed.

Police reported no confirmed sightings of wreckage within Lithuania as of Thursday morning.