Downed drone found in Utena district confirmed as Ukrainian

A drone discovered crashed in Lithuania’s Utena district on Sunday was a Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicle, Defence Minister Robertas Kaunas confirmed on Monday.

Speaking to journalists at the Seimas, Kaunas stated the drone had gone off course. “Yes, this was a disoriented Ukrainian drone. The investigation continues,” he said.

Lithuania’s National Crisis Management Centre (NKVC) first reported the downed object, found in a field near Samanė village, on Sunday evening. Military radars had not detected the drone’s entry, according to the Lithuanian Armed Forces. NKVC chief Vilmantas Vitkauskas initially suggested it was likely a Ukrainian drone that had strayed into Lithuanian airspace.

Authorities later confirmed the drone carried explosives, which were neutralised at the scene. On Monday, President Gitanas Nausėda met with Kaunas to discuss the incident, afterwards criticising the country’s drone alert system as inadequate.

The discovery follows repeated airspace violations in the Baltic states and Finland in recent months, attributed to Russian forces jamming Ukrainian drones mid-flight. Moscow has accused Baltic nations of allowing their territory to be used for Ukrainian military operations against Russia.