NATO fighter jets shot down a drone over Lithuania, marking the latest security incident along Europe’s border with Russia as Moscow’s war against Ukraine continues.
“A drone that had entered Lithuanian airspace was destroyed by NATO fighter jets,” President Gitanas Nauseda wrote on X on Tuesday.
“With Russia intensifying its aggression against Ukraine, such readiness is vital for our region.”
The drone was shot down near Pratkunai in southern Lithuania, close to Kaunas, the country’s second-largest city. According to Lithuanian national broadcaster LRT, preliminary data from the National Crisis Management Centre indicated that it had come from Belarus and was heading west.
A drone alert was also issued earlier in the capital, Vilnius, and the surrounding region.
“This is a clear example of Allied unity and resolve in action,” Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kestutis Budrys wrote in another post. He said the response sent “a clear message that NATO stands vigilant, committed and ready”.
Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia—all NATO members sharing a long border with Russia—have regularly reported drone incursions since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
The mission’s jets shot down stray Ukrainian drones over Estonia in May, the first interception of a foreign drone in Baltic airspace since the war began. Drones were subsequently shot down over Latvia in June and August.
Nauseda said in early July that he wanted Lithuania to participate in Western nuclear deterrence against Russia. Since then, the country has begun the process of lifting the constitutional ban on storing nuclear weapons on its soil.
Meanwhile, Poland announced that “aviation operations” had begun in its airspace due to Russian jet-powered drones conducting strikes on Ukrainian territory.
The country said the measures were preventive and intended to secure and protect its airspace, particularly in areas near threatened regions.
The incident in Lithuania comes as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine was ready to take “de-escalatory steps” if Russia did the same, following an announcement by US President Donald Trump that both sides had agreed to stop targeting each other’s energy facilities.
