Lithuania probes drone crash and shelter access failures

Lithuanian authorities are investigating how a drone carrying explosives crashed in Pasvalys district after triggering an air alert, LRT reported. The incident also raised questions about public warnings and access to shelters.

The drone entered Lithuanian airspace from Poland at about 7 a.m. on Sunday. Its wreckage was later found in Juodžioniai village, where it damaged a car on the road. No one was injured. Prime Minister Mindaugas Sinkevičius said there was no doubt the drone had been carrying explosives.

A red air alert was issued for Panevėžys and Šiauliai counties and lifted about an hour later. Questions have been raised about why residents in southern Lithuania were not warned. President Gitanas Nausėda met with the chief of the Lithuanian Armed Forces Defence Staff, Giedrius Premeneckas, and intelligence agency heads. A State Defence Council meeting is scheduled for next week to discuss, among other issues, procedures for warning the public about air threats.

After the incident and an attempted arson attack on Starlink communications equipment in Vilnius, the National Security Commission met at government headquarters at the prime minister’s call.

Some residents said they were unable to enter buildings marked as shelters because managers said they had not received instructions to open them. Interior Minister Martynas Katelynas said no separate instruction was required: officials responsible for shelters should know that they must be unlocked when an air alert is issued, and opened immediately during a red alert.

Vilmantas Vitkauskas, head of the National Crisis Management Centre, urged residents to remain alert and not trust Russian disinformation. He said Russian commentators were spreading false claims that Lithuania allows its airspace to be used for attacks on Russia. Vitkauskas also said Russian electronic warfare measures may have altered the drone’s course, but stressed that the circumstances of the latest incident were still under investigation. Ukraine apologised for the incident.