Belarus warned Lithuania of approaching drones, Lithuanian defense minister says
November 11, Pozirk. Lithuanian Defense Minister Robertas Kaunas said Belarus had warned Lithuania of approaching unidentified flying objects last night, 15 min reported, citing BNS.
“At 22:47, we received information from the Belarusian side via our technical channel that unidentified flying objects were heading towards Lithuania, with Belarus trying to neutralize them,” Kaunas said on an LRT radio show.
He noted that such information exchanges between air forces occur regularly.
Lithuania issued a yellow air raid alert in the Vilnius and Utena districts after its radars detected the objects. However, the drones did not enter Lithuanian airspace and changed course, apparently heading towards Russia.
After midnight, radars detected another flying object. The drone entered Lithuania from Belarus near Druskininkai, then crossed into Poland before returning to Lithuania and flying towards Latvia.
Kaunas said the drones might be Ukrainian and had been sent to attack Russia’s port of Ust-Luga but had strayed off course.
A NATO aircraft apparently fired a projectile at a drone that entered Lithuanian airspace and flew across Latvia into Estonia overnight.
Lithuanian Prime Minister Mindaugas Sinkevičius said on Facebook that missile fragments had been found near the town of Biržai in northern Lithuania, close to the Latvian border, LRT reported. He said air defenses had tracked four unmanned aerial vehicles in the region, one of which flew over Lithuania.
Latvia’s military tracked four aerial targets overnight, Sargs.lv reported, citing the National Armed Forces. Three of them entered Latvian airspace.
Three targets were detected near the border with Belarus, two of which entered Latvia before leaving its airspace. The fourth came from Lithuania and flew across Latvia into Estonia.
Latvian air defenses and NATO patrol aircraft did not shoot down the drone flying over Latvia towards Estonia, citing concerns about civilian safety, the military said.
Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia issued air alerts overnight.
In a separate incident, Vilnius and Kaunas airports suspended operations for about half an hour on the evening of November 10 after radar systems detected objects following flight patterns characteristic of weather balloons used by smugglers to transport cigarettes from Belarus to Lithuania.
Such balloon incursions have contributed to political tensions between Minsk and Vilnius.
NATO reportedly fired missile at drone that flew over Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia
November 11, Pozirk. A NATO aircraft apparently fired a missile at a drone that entered Lithuanian airspace and flew across Latvia into Estonia overnight. Lithuanian Prime Minister Mindaugas Sinkevičius said on Facebook that missile fragments had been found near the …
