NATO jets scrambled after Lithuania drone alerts

Lithuania's National Crisis Management Centre on Wednesday confirmed that NATO fighter jets were scrambled twice overnight after suspected drone incursions triggered air alerts across large parts of the Baltic state — with at least one unmanned aircraft entering from Belarus and flying north into Latvia.

Overnight alerts issued

The first yellow alert was issued in the Vilnius and Utena regions at approximately 11 pm Tuesday (2000GMT) and was lifted shortly after midnight, according to public broadcaster LRT. A second alert was subsequently declared in the Alytus region before being expanded to cover parts of central and northern Lithuania and upgraded to red, urging residents to seek immediate shelter.

Border incursion details

Vilmantas Vitkauskas, head of the National Crisis Management Centre, told LRT that three drones were initially detected in Belarus during the first incident, though none entered Lithuanian airspace at that time. During the second incident, a drone believed to have entered from Belarus near the southern town of Druskininkai flew north across several regions before exiting the country's airspace near Pasvalys, he noted.

Military response and airport closures

Vitkauskas said NATO fighter jets detected the object but did not shoot it down, possibly due to poor weather or safety concerns. The incursions also disrupted civil aviation, forcing temporary closures at Vilnius and Kaunas airports that impacted three flights and more than 400 passengers at the capital's airfield. Latvia's National Armed Forces issued an airspace threat warning for several municipalities early Wednesday, activating drone interceptors, air defense units and NATO air policing jets. The number of drones involved and whether any crashed or were shot down remained unclear, according to officials.