Lithuania invites Ukrainian experts to advise on countering stray drones

Lithuania will invite Ukrainian specialists to consult on countermeasures against drones straying into its airspace, Defence Minister Robertas Kaunas announced Monday, as reported by LRT.

Speaking to journalists in Vilnius after meeting with Kyrylo Budanov, head of Ukraine’s presidential administration and former military intelligence chief, Kaunas said Ukraine’s experience was critical to avoiding mistakes in Lithuania’s own preparations.

“We will invite them to Lithuania to assess our work and planned measures so we don’t make additional errors,” the minister stated.

Budanov expressed regret over drones affected by Russian electronic warfare violating Baltic airspace, Kaunas noted, but added: “We all understand perfectly that if Russia stopped the war today, these drones would no longer fly.”

The two officials also discussed accelerating Ukraine’s defence industry cooperation with Lithuania. Kaunas emphasised that Ukrainian technologies and combat lessons were highly relevant to Lithuania, which aims to both manufacture such systems domestically and support Ukraine’s defence capabilities.

“We want to have these technologies, produce them in Lithuania, and contribute to Ukraine’s ability to defend itself,” he said.