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Drone alert halts Vilnius as president and PM take cover
Lithuania's capital came to a sudden standstill on Tuesday after a drone alert sent President Gitanas Nausėda and Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė to emergency shelters. The nationwide alarm, later lifted, disrupted flights, trains, and road traffic across the city.
Unclear origin and NATO response
Lithuania's defence ministry issued urgent instructions for residents to seek shelter and await further guidance. The national crisis management centre linked the alert to a drone spotted over neighbouring Belarus, heading toward Lithuanian airspace, though its origin remained unverified.
NATO fighter jets were scrambled to intercept the drone but failed to locate it, according to military officials. Local media reported that Lithuania's parliament, the Seimas, was evacuated, with lawmakers and staff moved to basement shelters.
Baltic states face repeated drone incidents
The incident follows a pattern of recent drone incursions into NATO member states Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. On Monday, Estonia reported that NATO forces had shot down a drone over its territory, suspected to be a Ukrainian projectile diverted by Russian electronic interference.
Ukraine acknowledged the incident, attributing it to Russian jamming tactics that redirected drones targeting military sites in Russia. Kyiv issued an apology to Estonia and the broader Baltic region for the unintended overflight.
Political fallout and escalating tensions
Last week, Latvian Prime Minister Evika Siliņa resigned amid a political crisis triggered by Ukrainian drones straying into Latvian airspace. Earlier in May, two Ukrainian drones struck an unoccupied oil storage facility in Latvia, an incident Kyiv also blamed on Russian electronic warfare.
Moscow has accused the Baltic states of permitting Ukraine to use their airspace for strikes inside Russia, a claim firmly rejected by Tallinn, Riga, and Vilnius. Ukraine has intensified its drone and missile attacks on Russian targets, including energy infrastructure near the Baltic region.
Kremlin vows response as monitoring intensifies
Russian President Vladimir Putin's spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, stated on Wednesday that the Russian military is closely tracking drone flights over Baltic airspace and is preparing an appropriate response. The statement, carried by state news agency TASS, underscored rising tensions in the region.
The latest incidents occur against the backdrop of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, launched in February 2022, which has heightened security concerns across Eastern Europe.
