Lithuanians Briefly Head To Bunkers Over Drone Alert

Vilnius: A drone alert sent by Lithuania's defence ministry to residents of the capital city Vilnius on Wednesday briefly brought transport to a standstill and caused people to flee to underground shelters.

Alerts of this kind have been increasingly common in recent months in the Baltic states as a result of intensified Ukrainian strikes against Russian targets in the Saint Petersburg region, close to Estonia and Finland.

But Wednesday's alarm was the first in an EU and NATO member country since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in 2022 to trigger a hunker-down alert for the population -- including the president, prime minister and MPs.

Political leaders were ushered into bunkers following a drone alert last year, but not the general population.

The alert came at around 10:20am local time (0720 GMT) on mobile phones: "Air raid alert! Go immediately to a shelter or a safe place, take care of your family members and wait for further instructions."

Immediately, in offices and apartment buildings, civilians went down into basements or designated shelters, according to an AFP correspondent.

President Gitanas Nauseda and Prime Minister Inga Ruginiene, as well as lawmakers, were taken to shelters, their offices told the BNS news agency.

Flights at Vilnius International Airport were suspended, while trains were brought to a halt.

The army said a radar signal had been detected in Belarusian airspace "with characteristics typical of an unmanned aerial vehicle".

"The NATO air-policing mission was activated," the military added.

The alert was lifted at around 11am and people were told they could leave the shelters.

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