Nato Jets Down Drone That Entered Lithuania

Nato fighter pilots shot down a drone that entered Lithuanian airspace overnight, Lithuania’s president said.

Lithuanian authorities said the drone was likely detected over southern Lithuania, near Kaunas, the country’s second-largest city, after crossing from neighbouring Belarus shortly after midnight on Tuesday.

President Gitanas Nausėda said in a statement posted on X that NATO fighter jets destroyed the drone after it entered Lithuanian airspace.

NATO Jets Destroy Drone Overnight

Drone alerts were reported across Vilnius and the surrounding region earlier on Tuesday.

Shortly after midnight local time (21:00 GMT on Monday), warnings were sent to residents’ mobile phones. The alerts told people to find a safe place and wait for an all-clear while authorities assessed the situation.

Alerts Sent Across Vilnius Region

Lithuania’s Ministry of Defence said the armed forces, along with Italian pilots serving in the Nato Air Defence Mission, responded quickly to the incursion.

The Lithuanian national crisis management centre said the origins of the drone had not been determined.

Ongoing Drone Incursions In Europe

Lithuania shares a large part of its southern and eastern border with Belarus, a key Russian ally. Moscow has not commented on the latest incident.

Drone sightings in Lithuania were also reported on Sunday. The crisis management centre said at the time that an object had likely entered from Belarus and travelled across Lithuanian territory before entering Russian airspace. It said the 13 September incident did not trigger air threat alerts.

Military drone incursions have become more frequent across Europe since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Poland announced that it carried out “aviation operations” in its airspace on Monday night due to the activity of Russian jet-powered unmanned aerial vehicles conducting strikes on Ukrainian territory. It said the steps were preventive, aimed at securing airspace and protecting areas near threatened regions.

Background: Earlier Shoot-Downs In The Baltics

In May, residents in Vilnius were forced to take shelter after a drone alert was triggered, briefly affecting flights and rail services.

Nato jets have scrambled multiple times this year to shoot down stray Ukrainian drones that crossed into Estonia and Latvia. Ukraine has blamed the incidents on Russian electronic warfare, which it says is used to interfere with the flight paths of Ukrainian drones.

Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia joined Nato in 2004 and are signatories to Article 5, which states that an armed attack against one Nato member would be treated as an attack against all members.

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15 September 2026