Missile fired at drone falls in Biržai district

A missile fired at a drone that entered Lithuanian airspace fell in Biržai district overnight, prompting authorities to activate the Shield plan, LRT reported. Police anti-terrorist unit Aras officers, forensic experts and Lithuanian troops were sent to Eiminiškės village.

Police said the plan was activated at 3.55 a.m. The missile had been fired at the drone but missed, Lithuanian Armed Forces Defence Staff chief Rear Admiral Giedrius Premeneckas said. He said the aircraft initially could not be targeted because it was flying over an urban area, and two later attempts to neutralise it failed.

Vilmantas Vitkauskas, head of the National Crisis Management Centre, said three drones were monitored in Belarus during the first of two air alerts in Lithuania overnight, but none entered the country. One flew into Latvia and later continued towards northern Russia. Residents of Utena and Vilnius counties were warned.

During the second alert, a drone was believed to have entered Lithuania from Belarus near Druskininkai, briefly crossed into Poland and then travelled north through Marijampolė, Kaunas and Panevėžys counties before leaving Lithuanian airspace near Pasvalys. Alerts were issued for Druskininkai, Lazdijai, Marijampolė, Kaunas, Panevėžys, Radviliškis, Pasvalys and Biržai.

Vitkauskas said fighter jets had located the object but did not shoot it down, possibly because of poor weather or the risk of targeting it over an unsafe area. Earlier, warnings about possible balloons led to temporary airspace closures in Vilnius and Kaunas. Initial information indicated that three flights involving more than 400 passengers were affected at Vilnius Airport.

After 3 a.m., Latvia issued warnings for the municipalities of Cēsis, Smiltene and Gulbene. Latvia’s National Armed Forces said interceptor drones, air-defence units and NATO air-policing fighters had been activated in Baltic airspace. Authorities had not said how many drones were involved or whether any had crashed or been shot down. Similar warnings were issued in parts of Estonia and Lithuania.