Lithuania raises red drone alerts overnight, NATO jets scramble, Polish army unconfirmed

Overnight alerts across Lithuania

Lithuanian authorities declared a yellow air alert at around 23:00 on Tuesday, 10 November, covering the Vilnius and Utena regions. That warning was lifted shortly after midnight. Almost at once a second alert was issued, first for the Alytus region and then extended across much of central and northern Lithuania. The alert was later raised from yellow to red, which meant residents in the affected areas had to take shelter or move to a safe place inside a building. NATO fighter jets took off on two occasions during the night. Lithuanian authorities said the drones were not shot down and later left Latvian airspace.

Tracking the drones

Lithuania's National Crisis Management Centre, headed by Vilmantas Vitkauskas, said three drones were first spotted over Belarus and that none of them initially entered Lithuanian airspace. One of them flew into Latvia and then continued toward northern Russia, according to his account to Lithuanian public radio LRT. During the second episode, Lithuanian authorities believe a drone entered Lithuania from Belarus in the south, near Druskininkai. It may have briefly crossed into Poland before turning north over the Marijampolė, Kaunas and Panevėžys regions. It left Lithuanian airspace near Pasvalys. Separately, Polskie Radio reported that the Lithuanian army had passed on information that an object crossed the border near Łoździeje, shortly before appearing on the Polish side.

Poland and Latvia respond

Lieutenant Colonel Jacek Goryszewski of the Operational Command of the Armed Forces did not confirm to Polskie Radio that an unidentified object had entered Polish territory. He said the command had sent combat readiness signals to Polish units and that its own verification was still under way. In Latvia, the army said it had activated interceptor drones and air defence units. Public broadcaster Lsm reported that residents of the Ludza region, which borders Belarus, were told to seek shelter. Polskie Radio also reported alerts in Latvia and Estonia, though no shootdown of any observed object was confirmed. NATO fighter jets scrambled from the Šiauliai base but their pilots could not identify the object seen over Lithuania, and the aircraft were then sent toward Latvia.

Conflicting accounts on the object

Prime Minister Mindaugas Sinkevicius said preliminary data indicated that remains of a missile fired by a NATO-allied aircraft had been found in the north of the country. That claim sits uneasily with reports that no drone was shot down. Lithuanian services did not rule out that the object was a Ukrainian unmanned aircraft that had strayed off course during an attack on targets in Russia. Lithuanian authorities have also said at least one drone crossed from Belarus into Poland. Polish authorities issued no alert of their own, and the NATO eastern surveillance service made no announcement either. The origin and final path of the object therefore remain unresolved in the reporting.