NATO fighters shoot down drone over Lithuania near Kaunas

NATO air defence mission fighters shot down a drone that entered Lithuania near Pratkūnai village in Kaišiadorys district overnight, LRT reported. Former Air Force commander Jonas Marcinkus said using the fighters was the only way to prevent more serious consequences because the drone may have been heading towards strategic facilities in Kaunas County.

“The services responded well and in coordination with the resources and weapons available,” Marcinkus told LRT Radio. He said the fighters destroyed the unmanned object before it reached the city towards which it was travelling, Kaunas.

The drone entered Lithuania from Belarus, according to information provided by the National Crisis Management Centre. Authorities have not yet determined whether it was carrying explosives.

Residents in Vilnius, Trakai, Elektrėnai and later Kaunas County received alerts after midnight warning that a drone had possibly been detected and advising them to identify a safe place. The crash site has been cordoned off and placed under guard. Military police and the Lithuanian Police are working there under the Shield plan.

Marcinkus said radar systems can distinguish a drone from a flock of birds and help identify its type based on its speed and manoeuvrability. He estimated that the drone travelled about 120 kilometres from the border to the point where the NATO fighters engaged it in roughly 20 minutes, suggesting a speed of about 205 kilometres per hour.

He said systems designed to detect, identify and destroy drones were needed, but their development took time. According to Marcinkus, a system currently being deployed with the help of Ukrainian specialists is among the most modern systems used in Ukraine.

Marcinkus said Lithuania was developing its defence capabilities and preparing for various threats as quickly as existing resources allowed. He added that the country had begun investing in air defence and acquiring new equipment.

The State Defence Council is due to meet on Wednesday to discuss air defence.