Vilnius airport in Lithuania halts operations twice in one day over suspected drone activity

Rasa Petrauskaite, a spokeswoman for Lithuanian Airports, said the airspace was closed from 7:14 p.m. to 7:37 p.m. because of a possible drone sighting. One flight was delayed.

Vilnius police said they received a report of a drone flying over Gelunu Street, but officers found nothing when they arrived.

According to Petrauskaite, this was the second such incident that day. Around midday on Sept. 26, Vilnius Airport was also closed because of suspected drones.

On Sept. 23, the Lithuanian parliament approved amendments allowing the army to more quickly shoot down drones that pose a threat to the country’s airspace.

Drone Activity in Europe

On Sept. 23 and 25, Denmark reported flights of unidentified drones. Airports in Aalborg and Copenhagen were forced to close. Authorities said the drone activity resembled hybrid warfare tactics, and Denmark considered the risk of Russian sabotage high.

On Sept. 25, media reported that unknown drones flew over the Mourmelon-le-Grand military base in the Marne department of northeastern France.

On Sept. 26, Germany reported several unidentified drones near the Danish border in the northern state of Schleswig-Holstein.

The spike in drone activity coincided with several Russian aircraft incursions into NATO airspace. On Sept. 19, three Russian MiG-31 fighters entered Estonian airspace for about 12 minutes. On Sept. 25, two Russian Tu-95 bombers and two Su-35 fighters approached Alaska.

ISW reported that Russia is behind the drone provocations in Europe. Moscow is trying to test NATO air defenses and reactions to exploit them in a potential future conflict with the alliance.