Residents of Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, were advised to take shelter on Wednesday following an alert regarding drone activity near the border with Belarus. This situation has raised concerns among NATO member states regarding potential security threats related to Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
A military emergency announcement urged citizens in the Vilnius region to “immediately head to a shelter or a safe place.” The alert lasted approximately one hour and resulted in the temporary closure of airspace over Vilnius Airport.
During this time, President Gitanas Nauseda and Prime Minister Inga Ruginiene were relocated to designated safe locations. Additionally, evacuation orders were issued for Lithuania’s parliament, the Seimas, according to the BNS news agency.
This incident represents the first significant alert that has prompted both residents and political leaders in the capital city of the European Union and NATO member to seek shelter since the onset of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Notably, this event occurred just hours after a NATO jet downed a Ukrainian drone over southern Estonia. Ukraine has since apologised for the “unintended incident,” though no further details have been provided.
Vilnius resident Maryia Malevich felt terrified when the alert sounded. “My colleagues and I went downstairs and waited about 30 minutes for the all-clear,” she said. “We were unprepared and still don’t know what happened.”
Iuliia Dudkina, another resident, wasn’t scared because her friends in Israel often go to shelters. Her husband, however, was worried and asked her to take their dog to the underground garage. “There were no other people, so I guess no one was really that scared,” she noted.
NATO chief praises response to drone incursions
Lithuania borders Belarus to the east and Russia’s Kaliningrad exclave to the west. An alert was issued after the military detected drone activity in Belarus, although no drones were sighted in Lithuania. Vilmantas Vitkauskas, head of Lithuania’s National Crisis Management Centre, noted that the drone was likely either a combat drone or a decoy. He also mentioned it was unclear if the drone was armed.
Belarus informed Lithuania and Latvia about the potential drone sighting, as reported by Brig. Gen. Nerijus Stankevicius of the Lithuanian Army. NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte commended the alliance’s calm and measured response to recent drone incidents.
In recent months, Ukrainian drones targeting Russia have repeatedly crossed into NATO territory. Western officials believe this is due to Russian electronic jamming. Russia has threatened retaliation if Ukrainian drones are launched from the Baltic countries or if these nations are seen as complicit.
Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kestutis Budrys stated, “Russia is redirecting Ukrainian drones into Baltic airspace while launching smear campaigns against Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia. This is a desperate attempt to create chaos and distract from the fact that Ukraine is striking the Russian military hard.”
Additionally, Latvia’s government collapsed last week over disputes regarding incidents involving suspected Ukrainian stray drones.
Russia and Ukraine are engaging in daily drone attacks. Ukraine shot down 131 of Russia’s 154 launched drones, but three civilians were killed, and 18 were injured. Ukraine also targeted Russian oil facilities, while reports of a fire at a chemical plant in Stavropol remain unconfirmed.
This article used information from The Associated Press.
