NATO fighter jets shot down a drone over Lithuania, the president of this Atlantic Alliance member, Gitanas Nauseda, announced on Tuesday, AFP reports.

“A drone that violated Lithuania’s airspace overnight was swiftly shot down by NATO fighter jets,” Gitanas Nauseda wrote on the social media platform X, without specifying which country the drone belonged to.

“As Russia intensifies its aggression against Ukraine, such readiness is vital for our region. Together with our NATO allies, Lithuania will defend its airspace,” he added.

“Our sincerest thanks to our allies, whose presence helps protect our airspace and strengthen our security,” Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kestutis Budrys wrote on X in turn, adding that “NATO remains vigilant, committed and ready”.

According to Lithuanian national broadcaster LRT, which cited the National Crisis Management Centre (NKVC), the drone crashed in a rural area near Lake Kaunas, in the centre of the country.

Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, former Soviet republics that share a border with Russia, regularly record drone incursions into their territories.

On 19 May, a NATO fighter jet shot down a Ukrainian drone over Estonia, the first interception of a foreign drone in the skies of a Baltic state by NATO air policing since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

According to Europeans, Russia deliberately diverts Ukrainian drones off course when they are intended to strike industrial facilities and oil terminals in the St Petersburg region, located on the Gulf of Finland.

Source: AGERPRES