Lithuania says crashed drone found in Utena district was Ukrainian

The drone had veered off course, and the circumstances of the incident are currently under investigation, Kaunas said.

Lithuania’s National Crisis Management Center earlier reported that debris from a suspected military drone had been found in the village of Samanė. The drone had not been detected by radar.

Authorities later determined that the drone was carrying explosives, which bomb disposal specialists neutralized at the crash site.

Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda met with the defense minister after the incident and said the country’s drone warning system was not functioning properly.

Drone incidents in Lithuania — what is known

Lithuania’s military reported on March 23 that a suspicious drone had entered the country’s airspace. It later crashed into a frozen lake about 20 kilometers (12 miles) from the border with Belarus.

Lithuania’s Defense Ministry suggested the drone was likely headed to attack the port of Primorsk in Russia’s Leningrad Oblast. Drone attacks on the Russian ports of Primorsk and Ust-Luga began that same night.

Russia’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Vasily Nebenzya, threatened the Baltic states with a “response” on May 19 over Russian intelligence claims that Ukrainian drones were allegedly being launched from their territory, although Kyiv denied the allegations.

Latvia’s representative called Russia’s statements a lie and “a sign of despair and weakness,” while the United States stressed its support for NATO allies.

Estonia also shot down a drone from a Romanian fighter jet on May 19. The drone was believed to have possibly been heading toward targets inside Russia. It was the first known case of Estonia independently destroying a drone in its airspace.

Lithuania declared an air alert on May 20 after detecting an object near the border that appeared to be a drone, prompting NATO fighter jets to scramble.

The incident affected both parliament and air traffic, with lawmakers moving to shelters and some flights redirected or delayed.