World
Archived — This article has been archived. The information may be outdated.
Nato jets shoot down 1 drone over Lithuania
BBC News··15 Sept
Nato fighter jets shot down a drone that entered Lithuanian airspace overnight, President Gitanas Nauseda said. Authorities said it likely entered southern Lithuania near Kaunas from Belarus shortly after midnight on Tuesday. Drone alerts sounded across Vilnius. Lithuanian and Italian pilots in the Nato Air Defence Mission responded, the Defence Ministry said. Moscow has not commented.
Prism
What It Means For You
- Phone alerts in Vilnius told residents to find a safe place and wait for the all clear.
- Lithuania shares a long border with Belarus, a Russian ally, so capital-area alerts can arrive quickly.
- Residents in Vilnius took shelter during a drone alert in May that briefly affected flights and rail.
What's Happening
- President Gitanas Nauseda said Nato fighter jets shot down a drone in Lithuanian airspace.
- Crisis officials said the craft likely came from Belarus near Kaunas after midnight Tuesday.
- Poland reported preventive aviation operations Monday night tied to Russian drones striking Ukraine.
Why Baltic skies keep scrambling
- Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia joined Nato in 2004 under collective defence rules.
- Drone sightings were also reported in Lithuania on Sunday without air threat alerts.
- Military drone incursions across Europe have risen since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
all-news
