Lithuania prepares drone alerts but loses track of aircraft before warnings sent

Lithuania’s Fire and Rescue Department was ready to issue public warnings on Sunday after border guards detected an unidentified drone entering the country’s airspace, but the aircraft vanished from radar before alerts could be sent, Defence Minister Robertas Kaunas confirmed on Tuesday.

Speaking to journalists, Kaunas said authorities had prepared to notify residents but the drone disappeared, leaving uncertainty over whether it remained in Lithuanian territory. “Based on the available information, it was not possible to clearly determine what type of drone it was,” he stated, adding that all preparatory measures had been completed.

The minister dismissed Russian claims that Baltic states provide airspace for attacks on Russia as “untrue.” He emphasised that NATO procedures require allied fighter jets to intercept and down any unauthorised aircraft violating Lithuanian airspace, citing Monday’s incident in Estonia where a drone was shot down by an F-16 from Šiauliai Air Base.

On Sunday evening, locals in Samanė village, Utena district, reported a crashed drone believed to be of Ukrainian origin. Preliminary checks found no explosives in the wreckage. In February, another Ukrainian military drone, reportedly disrupted by Russian electronic warfare, crashed near the Belarusian border in Varėna district. That drone carried explosives, which were neutralised on site; police later confirmed residents could safely return home.

Similar incidents have increased in frequency across the Baltic Sea region in recent months.