"It was flying to attack Ukraine": Lithuania’s president said a Russian drone was shot down and warned that the incident could happen again

Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda said that a Russian "Gerbera" drone was shot down in the Kaišiadorys District on Tuesday evening. It had been intended to attack Ukraine but veered off course, UNN reports, citing LRT.

"At present, according to the information available, it was a 'Gerbera' drone," Nausėda told reporters after a meeting of the State Defence Council on Wednesday.

According to him, "it was probably not a deliberate action against Lithuania."

"Most likely, it was a Russian drone intended for Ukraine that was deflected from its course by Ukrainian electronic warfare systems and entered our country's territory, where it was shot down," said the President of Lithuania.

He warned that similar incidents could recur, and that countering them would require improving the identification of drones flying over foreign countries.

"Vilnius is located not far from the border, and, undoubtedly, after detection (...) we will have the capability and means to destroy drones or other aircraft," the President of Lithuania said.

According to him, Lithuania also needs alternative means of shooting down drones, since destroying them with fighter jets is ineffective.

In addition,

The BNS agency reported that on Tuesday evening, a drone that had arrived in Lithuania from Belarus was shot down in the Kaišiadorys District, near the Kruonis Pumped Storage Hydroelectric Plant, by Italian fighter jets stationed in Šiauliai.

When the drone was flying over Lithuanian territory, residents of Vilnius and Kaunas counties were sent warnings about a possible threat from the air.

Amid Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine, Lithuania has repeatedly warned in recent months about a possible threat from the air, but this was the first case in which a drone was shot down over the country's territory. Previously, this had occurred in Latvia and Estonia.

The last time residents of southeastern Lithuania were informed about a possible threat from the air was last Sunday, but it was later established that this occurred when radars detected a flock of birds.

Earlier that day, an object was also detected near Varėna that crossed the country's territory and may have flown to Russia's Kaliningrad Region, presumably from Belarus. In connection with this incursion, no air-threat warning was announced in Lithuania due to a lack of data.

NATO fighter jets shot down a drone that violated Lithuania’s airspace15.09.26, 00:50 • 12146 views