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New details have emerged about NATO aircraft's first shootdown of a drone over Lithuania

Kyiv • UNN

 • 2406 views

The drone that entered Lithuania from Belarus was shot down by Italian NATO fighter jets. The wreckage is being examined; its type and whether it carried explosives have not been established.

New details have emerged about NATO aircraft's first shootdown of a drone over Lithuania

The drone that flew into Lithuania from the territory of Belarus overnight was shot down by Italian NATO fighter jets. The drone’s wreckage has already been found, the Lithuanian Armed Forces report, according to UNN.

Details

According to the military, at around midnight, an object moving toward Lithuania was spotted in the airspace. After it was identified, allied aircraft were scrambled.

At approximately 00:20, the identified drone was shot down by allied fighter jets from Italy, which took off from Šiauliai Air Base

– the Lithuanian Armed Forces reported.

The drone’s wreckage has already been found

Lithuanian police and military police are working at the crash site. Specialists are collecting the wreckage to determine the type of drone and its purpose.

We need to assess the situation, collect the wreckage, and determine what kind of object it was and what its purpose was. The wreckage does not yet allow us to determine whether it was a combat drone

– said Vilmantas Vitkauskas, head of the National Crisis Management Centre.

It is also currently unknown whether the drone was carrying explosives. Earlier, the Lithuanian authorities reported that the drone had entered from Belarus, after which it moved westward through the Lentvaris area and the Trakai District. According to preliminary information, no one was injured in the incident.

NATO fighter jets shot down a drone that violated Lithuania’s airspace15.09.26, 00:50 • 10769 views