Drone invaded and crashed into Lithuanian airspace

NATO fighter jets rose, citizens were warned: In Lithuania, a drone caused an alarm because it entered the airspace. Kiev apologized shortly afterwards - and suspects a disturbance by Russia behind it. In Lithuania, a drone has entered the airspace. The NATO and EU countries put their forces on alert, NATO fighter planes rose. Residents in the center and north of the country were called to visit shelters for about an hour. In neighbouring Latvia, the inhabitants of some regions bordering Lithuania were also warned. After the object disappeared from the radar, it crashed: Near the village of Juodzionys, possible debris was found. Some of them had hit a civilian vehicle, said the Lithuanian Minister of defense Robertas Kaunas. No one was injured, said the head of the national crisis management center, Vilmantas Vitkauskas, on Lithuanian radio. A few hours after the incident came to light, Kiev apologized: It regretted the incident, “possibly due to Russian electronic warfare, which distracted drones when used against legitimate military targets in Russia,” Ukrainian Foreign Office spokesman Heorhij Tychyj wrote on X. Kiev was willing to work with Vilnius to clarify the matter. In recent months, drones have repeatedly entered NATO airspace in the Baltic region. The government in Kiev had previously said that Ukrainian drones had been dissuaded by Russian jammers. Lithuanian Defense Minister Kaunas said the unmanned missile had probably come from neighboring Poland in the north of the country to the ground. The Polish army said it was considering a possible violation of its own airspace by an unidentified object. At the same time, the Polish Air Force, according to its own statements, carried out preventive measures due to Russian missile attacks on Ukraine due to a failed arson attack on Starlink warehouse company The drone crash was not the only incident in Lithuania this weekend that authorities associate with Russia: Lithuanian Prime Minister Mindaugas Sinkevicius informed about an attempted arson attack on a company stockpiling Starlink equipment. During the night of Sunday, an attempt was made to set fire to a Lithuanian company that stores equipment for the satellite service Starlink. However, the attack failed because the authorities had warned the company of possible attacks and the security measures had been strengthened. It is obvious that it was an attempted act of sabotage and part of the hybrid war of Russia, said the head of government. According to Sinkevicius, the company concerned ensures the connection of nine Starlink antennas used by Ukraine. The satellite network is a strategically important component of Ukrainian defense in the war against Russia.