NATO fighter jet shoots down drone over Lithuania

A NATO fighter jet shot down a drone over Lithuania shortly after midnight on Tuesday, according to the Lithuanian national crisis management centre.

The drone, which is believed to have entered Lithuanian airspace from Belarus, was intercepted near the village of Pratkunai in the southern part of the country, close to the city of Kaunas. A drone alert had been issued earlier in the capital, Vilnius, and the surrounding region.

The interception was carried out by aircraft participating in the NATO Baltic Air Defence mission, which has patrolled the skies of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia since the Baltic states joined the alliance in 2004. The same mission’s jets previously shot down stray Ukrainian drones over Estonia in May and over Latvia in June and August.

Incidents involving military drones entering the airspace of Russia’s neighbours have heightened concerns that the conflict between Russia and Ukraine could spill over NATO’s eastern borders.

Ukraine has increased the use of long‑range drones in attacks on Russian targets, including operations in the Baltic Sea area, and a number of Ukrainian drones have unintentionally entered the airspace of Finland, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. Ukrainian officials have blamed the deviations on Russian electromagnetic warfare affecting the drones’ navigation.

Lithuania’s president described the shoot‑down as the latest security incident on the alliance’s eastern flank amid Russia’s war with Ukraine.