Lithuanian leaders shelter during drone air alert in Vilnius

Lithuania’s president and prime minister sought shelter on Tuesday after a drone alert brought the capital Vilnius to a standstill.

President Gitanas Nauseda and Prime Minister Inga Ruginiene were escorted to emergency shelters following the air alert that ordered the city’s population to take cover.

Flights were suspended, and road and rail travel briefly ground to a halt. The alert has since been lifted. The origin of the incursion remains unclear.

The alert came a day after Estonia reported that NATO shot down a drone over its territory, which it suspected was a Ukrainian projectile diverted by Russian electronic interference.

It was the latest in a series of recent drone incursions over NATO members Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

An alert from Lithuania’s defense ministry on Wednesday stated: “Immediately take shelter in a safe place, take care of your close ones, await new recommendations.”

Lithuania’s national crisis management center earlier said it had issued the alert in response to a drone in neighboring Belarus that was seen flying toward Lithuania.

The drone’s origin had not been confirmed, the center added.

Lithuania’s military later said NATO jets had been deployed to shoot down the drone but could not locate it.

An evacuation order was also issued at the Seimas, Lithuania’s parliament, according to local media, with politicians and staff led to a basement shelter.

On Tuesday, Estonian officials said a NATO fighter jet shot down a suspected Ukrainian drone. No damage was reported.

Ukraine responded by accusing Moscow of deliberately redirecting Ukrainian drones launched at “legitimate military targets” in Russia and apologizing to “Estonia and all of our Baltic friends for such unintended incidents.”

Last week, Latvian Prime Minister Evika Silina resigned after a political crisis over Russia-bound Ukrainian drones straying into Latvian territory.

Earlier this month, two Ukrainian drones struck an empty oil storage site in Latvia. Ukraine said this resulted from electronic jamming by Russia.

A similar incident was reported by Estonia and Latvia in March.

Moscow has accused the three Baltic states of allowing Ukraine to use their “air corridors” to strike targets inside Russia — a claim denied by Tallinn, Riga and Vilnius.

Ukraine has recently intensified its drone and missile attacks against targets in Russia, including oil and gas facilities near the Baltic states.

Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Wednesday said the Russian military is closely monitoring instances of drones flying through Baltic states’ airspace and is formulating an appropriate response, Russian state news agency TASS reported.