Drones in the skies of Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia: NATO jets take off

Drone incursions triggered yellow and red air alerts across large parts of Lithuania overnight, with NATO fighter jets taking off on two occasions. But the drones were not shot down and then exited Latvian airspace, Lithuanian authorities said. The first yellow alert was declared in the Vilnius and Utena regions around 11pm yesterday and was lifted shortly after midnight. Almost immediately, a second alert was issued, initially in the Alytus region, before spreading to much of central and northern Lithuania. The alert was later raised from yellow to red, meaning residents in the affected regions needed to take shelter.

Vilmantas Vitkauskas, head of the National Center for Crisis Management, said three drones were initially spotted in Belarus, but none of them entered Lithuanian airspace. "They were on Belarusian territory, but they did not enter Lithuania. One of them entered Latvia and later flew towards northern Russia. During the first episode, residents of the Utena and Vilnius regions were alerted," Vitkauskas told Lrt Radio. In the second incident, a drone is believed to have entered Lithuania from Belarus, in the south, near Druskininkai. It may have briefly crossed the border into Poland before turning north and flying over the Marijampolė, Kaunas and Panevėžys regions. It left Lithuanian airspace near Pasvalys.