By Andrius Sytas
VILNIUS, Oct 18 (Reuters) – Lithuania told residents in central and northern parts of the country to seek shelter for about an hour on Sunday morning after an unidentified flying object entered its airspace, the army and national crisis management centre said.
The object was likely a drone which entered from Poland, Defence Minister Robertas Kaunas told reporters, adding that he had proposed a joint investigation with his Polish counterpart.
Poland’s military said it was also verifying a possible violation of its airspace by an unidentified object. A Polish defence ministry spokesperson later said radar systems did not confirm the object crossing the border into Lithuania, but added that Polish authorities were remaining in contact with Lithuanian officials.
NATO SCRAMBLES FIGHTERS
During the “red” alert, NATO fighter jets were scrambled to the area, and Kaunas airport, near Lithuania’s second-largest city, was temporarily closed, the crisis management centre said.
The NATO aircraft were unable to visually identify the object due to cloudy weather and did not attempt to shoot it down, the centre said.
Lithuanian army personnel were investigating possible drone debris near Juodzionys village in northern Lithuania, after the object disappeared from radar, the centre said.
Some of the debris struck a civilian vehicle, Kaunas said.
“We can confirm that two Italian Eurofighter jets were scrambled earlier today in response to a drone over Lithuanian airspace,” a NATO official said.
“The aircraft were operating under NATO command. An investigation is ongoing, and NATO remains in close contact with the Lithuanian authorities,” the official said, adding that the alliance was ready and able to react to any potential threat.
Northern neighbour Latvia briefly issued a “yellow” air warning in some regions bordering Lithuania, citing a “possible threat”, its army said.
Ukrainian drones have repeatedly entered NATO airspace in the Baltic region in recent months. Kyiv has said they were steered off course by Russian signal jamming.
This has stoked concerns that Russia’s war in Ukraine is spilling over NATO’s borders.
(Reporting by Andrius Sytas in Vilnius; Additional reporting by Lili Bayer in Brussels and Anna Koper in Warsaw; Editing by Saad Sayeed, William Mallard, Elaine Hardcastle and Joe Bavier)
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