AP (“NATO jets down drone in Lithuanian airspace after bloc warns strikes will drive support for Ukraine“)
NATO fighter jets shot down a drone that entered Lithuanian airspace overnight, officials said Tuesday, less than a day after NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said that strikes close to the alliance’s territory would drive the trans-Atlantic organization to increase its support for Kyiv.
The drone was downed near the village of Pratkūnai in the Kaišiadorys district, about 60 miles (100 kilometers) west of the country’s capital, Vilnius, and near the Kaunas Reservoir, Lithuania’s National Crisis Management Center said Tuesday.
Lithuania’s military said that the incident marked the first time that a drone had been shot down in the country’s airspace. Authorities didn’t comment on the drone’s origin or purpose, saying the incident needed further investigation.
The incursion follows a speech by Rutte on Monday at NATO headquarters in Brussels, where he said 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 bolster the 32-nation alliance’s own defenses along its long eastern border with Russia.
The menace of drones has repeatedly loomed over the skies of Lithuania, which shares borders with Belarus, a key ally of Moscow, and the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad.
Antanas Matutis, commander of the Lithuanian air force, said that the wreckage had been found, and the drone “likely” was carrying explosives.
Vilmantas Vitkauskas, head of the crisis center, told Lithuanian public broadcaster LRT that the drone most likely entered from Belarus. It remained in Lithuanian airspace for about 30 minutes and flew along the outskirts of populated areas before being intercepted, he said.
I continue to highlight these incidents because I fear that we’ll soon see a major escalation.
