Italian fighter planes intercept and shoot down a drone in Lithuania

First the Danish helicopter grazed by a rocket, then the train hit on the border between Ukraine and Poland. Finally, a third piece. Late in the evening of Monday 14 September, two Eurofighter F-2000 fighters of the Italian Air Force Air Baltic Thunder III Task Force took off in scramble mode (emergency take-off) from the Šiauliai base as part of the NATO air defense mission on the eastern flank of the Alliance, following the violation of Lithuanian airspace by a drone. The Italian crews intercepted the unmanned aircraft, neutralizing it in compliance with the operational procedures established by the Alliance. The Ministry of Defense reported the news, specifying that it was the second episode, within a month, involving our fighters.

Three moves that outline Russia's current strategy, which is to subject Europe and the Atlantic Alliance, committed to supporting Ukraine, to a sort of "stress test". The scenario is all in the words of the President of the European Commission Ursula Von der Leyen. “Moscow puts us to the test, our determination is strengthened,” he said.

On 14 and 15 September, Defense Minister Guido Crosetto was in Bulgaria, Poland, Lithuania and Latvia for a series of institutional meetings and to greet the Italian contingents engaged on the Eastern Flank. According to what has been learned from NATO sources, who have started the investigations, the drone is of suspected Russian origin, but confirmation is awaited from the investigations of the Lithuanian authorities and NATO. A confirmation of this hypothesis comes from Crosetto: during a briefing with the media as part of the bilateral meeting held on Tuesday 15 September in Lithuania with his counterpart Robertas Kaunas, he explained that it is "probable" that the downed drone was Russian. «Italy - added Crosetto - has now been involved in NATO operations on the Eastern flank for over 10 years, with ground troops, with the Navy and in this country with an important commitment on the part of the Italian Air Force. Last night too, like a month ago, Italian pilots intervened and shot down a threat probably coming from Russia. The presence of Italian planes here is a clear demonstration of the value that the Atlantic Alliance has for us and what the word Allies means to us."

According to what the head of the National Crisis Management Center (NKVC) reported to the Lithuanian national radio LRT, the drone shot down in the Kaisiadorys district, near the village of Pratkunai, "most likely" came from neighboring Belarus, an ally of Russia, and was heading west. “We will not rush to conclusions, an investigation will be conducted and all circumstances will be assessed,” the army said. Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kestutis Budrys announced that Vilnius will send a diplomatic note to Belarus protesting the incident and will consult with allies. “Once the investigation is concluded and we establish who the drone belongs to, then we will take action based on that,” Budrys said, underlining that “NATO's eastern flank must be strengthened and its resilience increased.”

As reported by the Guardian, Kaunas explained that an explosive device was attached to the downed drone. During searches at the site of the accident "an explosive device was found, which was subsequently defused by the bomb squad", said the Lithuanian minister.