Ukraine source says Lithuania drone debris may be Russian

LRT reported, citing Reuters, that a Ukrainian military source believes debris from a drone shot down in Lithuania on Tuesday night may belong to a Russian unmanned aircraft.

The source said the fragments appeared to come from a Geran-2 long-range attack drone. If confirmed, it would be the first known case since summer 2025 of a Russian drone entering Lithuanian airspace.

The drone, which was carrying explosives, was shot down near the Kruonis hydro-accumulation power plant in Kaišiadorys district by Italian fighter jets stationed in Šiauliai. Explosives experts later neutralised the device.

Warnings about a possible air threat were sent to residents in Vilnius and Kaunas counties as the drone flew across Lithuanian territory.

Italy’s Defence Minister Guido Crosetto, who is visiting Lithuania, said the fighter jets had shot down what was believed to be a drone originating from Russia. Lithuanian authorities have not yet confirmed its origin and said the investigation must be completed first.

Vilnius will investigate the drone incidents together with Warsaw. Poland said on Monday that it had found what was suspected to be a Russian drone on its Baltic Sea coast. Russia also carried out a wave of drone strikes near its border with Poland.

As Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continues, Lithuania has issued several warnings about possible air threats in recent months. However, this was the first time a drone had been shot down over the country. Similar incidents had previously occurred in Latvia and Estonia.

On Sunday, residents in parts of southeastern Lithuania were warned of a possible air threat after radar detected what was later determined to be a flock of birds. Earlier on Tuesday, authorities near Varėna detected an object crossing Lithuanian territory and possibly entering Russia’s Kaliningrad region after apparently arriving from Belarus. No air threat was declared over that incident because of insufficient data.