NATO Fighter Jet Shoots Down Drone In Lithuania

AFP

NATO fighter jet.

A NATO fighter jet shot down a drone in Lithuania shortly after midnight on Tuesday, the Lithuanian National Crisis Management Centre said.

The drone, which likely entered from Belarus, was shot down near Pratkunai village in southern Lithuania, near Kaunas, the second-largest city, the ⁠centre's spokesperson said. Its origin is yet to be determined, he said.

A drone alert was issued earlier in Lithuania’s capital, Vilnius, and the surrounding region.

Fighter jets deployed as part of NATO’s Baltic Air Defence mission have patrolled the skies over Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia since the three Baltic states joined the alliance in 2004. The mission’s aircraft shot down stray Ukrainian drones over Estonia in May and over Latvia in June and August.

The repeated incidents have fuelled concerns that Russia’s war in Ukraine could spill over into NATO airspace.

Ukraine has stepped up long-range drone attacks against targets in Russia, including in the Baltic Sea region, with several Ukrainian military drones straying into the airspace of Finland, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia.

Ukraine has blamed the incidents on Russian electronic warfare disrupting the drones’ flight paths.



PUKMEDIA