Nausėda warns against shooting down drones identified only by radar

President Gitanas Nausėda says Lithuania must be extremely cautious about shooting down objects identified as drones only on radar, warning that a mistaken decision could have irreversible consequences. LRT reported his remarks at a news conference with the president of Estonia on Wednesday.

Nausėda said it would be dangerous for a fighter pilot to fire without being completely certain through visual contact that an object is a drone. Weather conditions could prevent the pilot from identifying it with certainty, he said, while even a small chance that the object is an aircraft without contact with air traffic control could lead to irreversible events.

Lithuania is prepared for further acts of sabotage in the region, Nausėda said. He cited a recent attempted arson attack on a Starlink ground station in Lithuania, as well as similar incidents reported in Bulgaria and Poland. He said such incidents were becoming part of daily life in the region, but that this should not reduce vigilance.

Nausėda said drones of various kinds could enter Lithuania’s and other regional countries’ airspace in the future. He said those most often detected at present were unmanned aircraft affected by anti-drone measures and coming from a war zone. They could be Ukrainian or Russian drones, he said, adding that they would not cross the countries’ borders if Russia had not begun its war of aggression against Ukraine in 2022.

The attempted arson took place in Vilnius on Sunday night. Prime Minister Mindaugas Sinkevičius said it was being treated as sabotage and that the equipment had allegedly been targeted with Molotov cocktails. The devices were not seriously damaged, and company employees put out the flames, he said. Authorities are searching for suspects, and a pre-trial investigation has been opened into attempted damage to property by a generally dangerous method. Security vigilance at critical national infrastructure has also been increased.

Separately, amid debate over the Lithuanian Orthodox Church’s ties to the Moscow Patriarchate and possible Kremlin influence, Nausėda said there was currently no reason to doubt the Orthodox community’s loyalty to Lithuania. He said the community had demonstrated its loyalty during Lithuania’s declaration of independence in 1990 and the January events.