Explosive-Laden Drone Shot Down Over Lithuania As Russia, Ukraine Trade Strikes

A NATO fighter jet shot down a drone carrying an explosive device after it entered Lithuanian airspace early on September 15, Lithuanian authorities said, as a series of incidents involving Russia and NATO members raised fresh concerns about the spillover of the war in Ukraine.

Lithuanian Defense Minister Robertas Kaunas said an explosive device was detected on the drone and that it was neutralized by bomb-disposal experts.

The drone came from neighboring Belarus and was heading west, according to preliminary data from Lithuania's National Crisis Management Centre cited by Lithuanian public broadcaster LRT.

"Together with our NATO Allies, Lithuania will defend its airspace," Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda wrote on X.

Lithuanian authorities said an alert had been issued earlier in the capital, Vilnius, and the surrounding region after the drone entered the country's airspace.

"We refuse to accept our country being turned into a source of danger to Europe," exiled Belarusian opposition leader Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya wrote in a post on X.

"Lasting security requires a sovereign, democratic Belarus whose territory is never used against its neighbors," she added.

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Russian Ship Fires Flares

In a separate incident later on September 15, Denmark confirmed that a Russian frigate had fired two flares at a Danish military helicopter that was sent to photograph the vessel in international waters the day before.

Defense Minister Jeppe Bruus was quoted by Reuters as saying that the Fennec military helicopter was conducting a standard operation at the time and that the Russian vessel gave no warning or radio contact before firing the flares, which came within "a matter of meters" of the chopper.

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said the incident showed that an increasingly aggressive Russia is trying to test NATO.

"Russia wants to sow fear and discord. Our answer is to stand closer together and strengthen the defense of Denmark and Europe," she said in a statement.

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The incidents in Lithuania and Denmark -- both EU and NATO members -- came after recent Russian drone strikes near the Polish border, with Kyiv warning that Moscow is "knocking on NATO's door."

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said that "Russia's dangerous recklessness" was on "full display in the past 48 hours."

"We need to be clear-eyed: those are not accidents," Kallas said on September 15. "They are calculated attempts by Russia to weaken our resolve."

"Europe will not dial back its support for Ukraine," she added.

Russia, Ukraine Exchange Strikes

Russia and Ukraine exchanged strikes overnight, hitting gas stations and an oil refinery, according to local authorities and monitoring Telegram channels.

The attacks on September 14-15 came just hours after US President Donald Trump said Moscow and Kyiv had agreed not to target each other's energy facilities.

In the Ukrainian capital, two gas stations and warehouse facilities were hit on September 15, and one man died, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko reported.

Russia has recently expanded its strikes to gas stations in Kyiv, with Ukrainian authorities saying around 300 such facilities have been hit in recent months, most of them in or near Ukraine's frontline regions.

Meanwhile, a missile attack on the Russian city of Taganrog, near the Ukrainian border, damaged a warehouse owned by online retailer Ozon, as well as warehouses belonging to agricultural companies, regional Governor Yuri Slyusar said on September 15.

The Russian region of Samara was also targeted by drones overnight, with an industrial facility sustaining damage, according to regional Governor Vyacheslav Fedorishchev, who added that 40 drones had been destroyed during the attack. He did not identify the facility. The region is home to a number of large oil refineries.

Monitoring Telegram channels reported that a fire was visible in the industrial area of the Syzran oil refinery in the Samara region following a drone attack.

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed Kyiv's strikes on the Syzran oil refinery and other Russian military targets, calling them retaliation for Moscow's continuous attacks on Ukraine's energy and critical infrastructure.

He also welcomed a decision by the US Treasury on September 14 to target Russia's VTB Bank, saying pressure on Moscow was needed to create the right diplomatic conditions to end the war.

The attacks came after Trump said in a post on Truth Social on September 14 that "Ukraine has agreed not to hit Russian Energy targets. Russia has agreed to do, likewise!"

In comments following Trump's post, Zelenskyy said Kyiv was ready to stop strikes on Russia if Ukraine's allies ensured that Moscow would cease hitting Ukrainian energy facilities, critical infrastructure, and food supply routes.

 
Explosive-Laden Drone Shot Down Over Lithuania As Russia, Ukraine Trade Strikes

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