NATO fighter jets were scrambled in Lithuania after a suspected drone crossed into the country, forcing Vilnius Airport in the capital to close its airspace. Lithuanian authorities issued a possible air threat alert to residents, urging them to find a safe place.
The suspected drone was detected entering Lithuania’s airspace from Belarus on Saturday morning, triggering the alarm to be sounded shortly before 10am local time. However, about 40 minutes later, the alert was cancelled as officials said it no longer caused a threat. Vilmantas Vitkauskas, head of Lithuania’s National Crisis Management Centre, said the object had moved away from the NATO ally’s observation zone.
Speaking to public broadcaster LRT TELEVISION, Mr Vitkauskas confirmed a search was underway for the unidentified object. “If it fell, if it was a drone, it will have to be found,” he is translated as saying.
“But it couldn’t necessarily have been a drone, because certain parameters said that the speed was slightly lower than usual. There could have been some anomaly or it could have been related to bird migration.”The senior official previously said the scrambled fighter jets were attempting to confirm the nature of the object which had not been “fully identified”.
He earlier said it resembled a drone on radar, but admitted it could have also been a flock of birds. Last month, an Italian figher jet stationed in Lithuania was scrambled after a possible drone sighting which turned out to be birds.
Mr Vitkauskas said authorities received reports from residents of a “possible object outside the territory of Vilnius, moving towards Jonava”. Lithuania, along with its Baltic neighbours, have faced repeated drone incursions since Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
The number of incidents have risen in recent months as countries along NATO’s eastern flank warn of an increasing threat from Moscow. In September, an Italian fighter jet shot down a suspsected drone over Lithuania. It resembled the first time a UAV had been shot down in the country’s airspace.
The Italian air force has been stationed at Šiauliai Air Base, northern Lithuania, as part of the NATO Air Defence mission. NATO nations strengthen alliance airspace along its eastern flank on a four-month rotation.
Lithuania has a southern and eastern border with Belarus, a key ally of Russia, while also having a border with Kaliningrad — Russia’s heavily militarised Baltic exclave. The suspected drone incursion comes as Lithuania holds its largests annual national mobilisation exercise, testing how it would react in a crisis.
Some 3,000 officials, as well as 1,000 volunteers, are taking part in Vyčio Skliautas 2026 which ends on Saturday. The major drills include rehearsing for the evacuation of residents.
Moscow has ramped up its threats this week, directly warning NATO it is ready to use its “entire arsenal” if the alliance threatened Kaliningrad. NATO condemned Russia for “irresponsible nuclear rhetoric”.