NATO jets down drone in Lithuania as alliance warns over border threats

NATO fighter jets shot down a drone after it entered Lithuanian airspace near Pratkunai. The incident heightens concern over reckless activity near the alliance's eastern border.

In Short

• Lithuania's drone wreckage was found near Pratkunai after 30 minutes in airspace
• Officials are investigating the drone's origin, purpose and possible explosive payload
• Denmark summoned Russia's ambassador after flares targeted its helicopter at sea

NATO fighter jets shot down a drone that entered Lithuanian airspace overnight, officials said on Tuesday, in what military authorities described as the first such incident in the country. The development came a day after NATO chief Mark Rutte said strikes close to the alliance's territory would only deepen support for Ukraine in its war against Russia's full-scale invasion.

Lithuanian authorities said the drone was brought down near the village of Pratkunai, around 100 km west of Vilnius and near the Kaunas Reservoir. Officials did not comment on the drone's origin or purpose, saying the incident required further investigation.

Officials in NATO countries including Germany, Denmark, the United Kingdom and Poland have in recent weeks accused Russia of involvement in incidents such as drone incursions, sabotage, arson, surveillance of defence facilities and plans to use a drone carrying explosives to attack an airport.

Rutte said on Monday that strikes "close to NATO territory" showed Russian President Vladimir Putin's "desperation and also his desire to sow fear and terror".

"Russia is growing increasingly reckless as it continues its terrible war against Ukraine," Rutte said. He also pledged to strengthen the 32-nation alliance's own defences along its long eastern border with Russia and Belarus, a Russian ally.

The threat from drones has repeatedly raised concern in Lithuania, which shares borders with Belarus and Russia's Kaliningrad exclave. In May, residents of Vilnius were told to take shelter, and the president and prime minister were moved to safe locations after an alarm over drone activity near the Belarus border.

Stray Ukrainian drones have also crossed into Baltic airspace in the past. In May, a NATO fighter jet shot down a Ukrainian drone over southern Estonia.

Lithuanian air force commander Antanas Matutis said the wreckage had been found and the drone was "likely" carrying explosives. Vilmantas Vitkauskas, head of the National Crisis Management Centre, told Lithuanian public broadcaster LRT that the drone most likely entered from Belarus. He said it stayed in Lithuanian airspace for about 30 minutes and flew along the outskirts of populated areas before being intercepted.

In a separate incident on Tuesday, Denmark's Foreign Ministry said a Danish air force helicopter had been fired upon with flares while carrying out "routine photographic coverage" of a Russian frigate in waters off the port of Gedser in the Baltic Sea.

"This is completely unacceptable," the ministry wrote on X, adding that the Russian ambassador had been summoned over the incident.

Meanwhile, Russian drone strikes continued across Ukraine after US President Donald Trump said in a social media post on Monday that Russia and Ukraine had agreed "not to hit" each other's energy infrastructure. Trump did not give further details, and Russia did not immediately comment. Earlier efforts to secure even a partial ceasefire have repeatedly collapsed within hours, with both sides accusing each other of violations.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said late on Monday that Kyiv was "ready to support de-escalation" if the United States could ensure that "Russia is genuinely ready to stop this war".

But in a statement on Tuesday, Zelenskyy said Moscow had continued to attack Ukraine's energy sector, logistics and critical infrastructure, and that Kyiv had responded by striking an oil refinery in Syzran in western Russia.

"There is no alternative to ending this war. And all forms of pressure on Russia must create the right diplomatic conditions," Zelenskyy said.

Ukraine's State Emergency Service said Russian strikes on Kyiv had killed one person and injured seven others since the start of the day, with attacks carried out on the capital's gas stations. Two more people were killed in separate Russian strikes in Sloviansk and Kramatorsk, it said.

Russia's Defence Ministry said its forces had shot down 222 Ukrainian drones overnight. Regional Governor Yuri Slyusar said a "massive" Ukrainian drone attack had caused several fires in Taganrog. He said two apartment buildings and three private homes were damaged, along with an educational institution, agricultural warehouses and a site belonging to Russian e-retailer Ozon.

Zelenskyy said on Tuesday that Ukrainian forces had targeted a drone production facility in the city.

In Kyiv, parliament voted on Tuesday to dismiss prosecutor general Ruslan Kravchenko as a series of graft investigations pushed tensions higher. Kravchenko had submitted his resignation on September 7 amid a National Anti-Corruption Bureau investigation into corruption in his office, though no notice of suspicion was issued against him. Zelenskyy had suspended him a day earlier. Kravchenko had served as prosecutor general since June 21, 2025.

The developments brought together rising security concerns on NATO's eastern edge, continued drone attacks between Russia and Ukraine, and political strain in Kyiv as Ukraine remains at war more than four and a half years after Russia's full-scale invasion began.

With PTI Inputs

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