Lithuanian crisis centre chief says drone likely entered airspace

An unidentified object that crossed Lithuanian airspace early Sunday and flew into Russia’s Kaliningrad region was probably a drone, Vilmantas Vitkauskas, head of the National Crisis Management Centre, told LRT radio.

“The investigation is still under way. Without having the object in our possession, it is very difficult to make a definitive statement, but based on the recorded parameters, it was most likely an unmanned aircraft,” Vitkauskas said.

Lithuania’s military said its air force radars detected the object crossing the country’s territory near Varėna at 4:05 a.m. and moving towards Kaliningrad. It is believed to have arrived from Belarus. The object remained in Lithuanian airspace for about 20 minutes and travelled approximately 60 to 70 kilometres.

Vitkauskas said residents also heard the object, but added that radar data alone made it difficult to identify precisely what it was. Authorities will also examine how Belarusian and Russian services responded as it crossed their airspace.

He did not rule out that the object could have been a drone used by smugglers. Twenty-two such drones have been detected in September, he said.

The military said the available data was insufficient to determine the object’s identity, but found no direct threat to Lithuania’s residents or infrastructure. LRT’s report was published by BNS.