Vilnius Airport is closed and NATO fighters fly over after a clash with a drone near Belarus

The National Center for Crisis Management in Lithuania revealed that Vilnius Airport was closed for less than an hour today (Saturday), and fighters belonging to the NATO air police mission in the Baltic region were dispatched, after a suspected drone was reported to have entered Lithuanian airspace coming from Belarus, according to Reuters.

The center said that the authorities are working to determine the reasons for the warning related to the drone.

This comes after Lithuanian Defense Minister Robertas Kaunas announced yesterday (Friday) that his country is testing an air surveillance system developed in Ukraine to protect against drone threats, according to the German News Agency.

“Aerial threats change rapidly, so we adapt our solutions accordingly,” Kaunas said in a statement. “Instead of developing everything from scratch, we adapt systems already in use in Ukraine.”

Ukraine, which is in its fifth year of defending itself against the comprehensive Russian invasion, is a world leader in drone warfare.

The Lithuanian authorities said that the “Heavenly Fortress” system uses artificial intelligence to monitor and track low-flying drones and cruise missiles, based on sound waves and electromagnetic signals.

The ministry explained that the system can classify observed objects in real time.

Today (Saturday), Russian strikes hit an important bridge in the Ukrainian capital, the North Bridge, two days after targeting the South Bridge, according to what Kiev Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko announced.

Klitschko wrote on Telegram: “The North Bridge was hit and emergency equipment was on its way,” after sirens sounded in Kiev to warn of an attack by marches. He pointed out that the road surface and electric bus cables on the bridge were damaged, which was closed to traffic.

This is the second major bridge in Kiev to be targeted in recent days, after the South Bridge was attacked on Thursday and Friday by Russian marches, which led to its closure to traffic and caused a stifling traffic jam in the city, which is divided by the Dnieper River.

Since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Kiev has feared that its eight main vehicle and railway bridges, which are essential infrastructure for the capital, will be targeted.

On Friday, the city municipality imposed traffic restrictions on the main Baton and Metro bridges, although there were no reports of them being targeted. An Agence France-Presse correspondent also reported that restrictions were imposed on the Darnitsky Bridge on the same morning.

European differences have emerged regarding how to deal with the escalating diesel crisis and Washington’s pressure to increase withdrawal from reserves, at a time when the European Union rejected an American threat to ban diesel exports, warning that the move would undermine confidence in the United States as a reliable partner.

France is pushing for broad action, proposing to pump 100 million barrels, divided between 50 million barrels of diesel released by European countries, and 50 million barrels of crude oil pumped by member states of the International Energy Agency. The proposal came after the administration of President Donald Trump pressured Europe to make more efforts to reduce fuel prices.

On the other hand, Germany adopted a more cautious stance, calling for “coordinated and mutual solutions” to avoid further disruptions to fuel markets, and stressing that it had not received any new request from the International Energy Agency to release more reserves.

The sensitivity of the crisis increases with the rise in energy prices due to the war in Iran, in addition to the repercussions of the war in Ukraine and pressures on refining capabilities, which led to a shortage of refined petroleum products and an increase in diesel and gasoline prices.