Minister questions response to unidentified object crossing Lithuania

Lithuania’s Defence Minister Robertas Kaunas has questioned why authorities did not alert residents or scramble fighter jets after radar detected an unidentified object crossing the country early Sunday, LRT reported.

Kaunas said the response to a later air danger warning was appropriate, but said he would seek answers from the military leadership on Monday about the earlier incident.

“It is better to respond preventively and make sure the threat was not real,” Kaunas told LRT Radio. “However, I have questions about the incident in the morning, when a flying object was also identified by radar in Lithuania at 4 a.m., but people were not informed and fighter jets were not scrambled.”

According to the Lithuanian military, its air force radars detected an object near Varėna at 4.05 a.m. as it crossed Lithuanian territory and headed into Russia’s Kaliningrad region. It most likely came from Belarus.

Vilmantas Vitkauskas, head of the National Crisis Management Centre, said the decision not to inform residents or scramble NATO fighter jets was based on the object’s trajectory. He said the object maintained a steady course and was continuously monitored, but was not considered a threat to people in Lithuania.

A separate yellow air danger warning was issued in Vilnius city and district, as well as the Trakai and Elektrėnai districts, from 12.59 p.m. to 1.37 p.m. Fighter jets launched from Šiauliai determined that the radar signal had been caused by a flock of birds.

Kaunas said additional measures were needed to improve the identification of dangerous and harmless objects, including distinguishing birds from drones and other flying objects.

The warning temporarily halted operations at Vilnius Airport and affected three flights. A yellow warning tells residents to remain calm and identify a safe place.