Italian Jets Deployed as Drone Debris Hits Car in Lithuania
(MENAFN) Two Italian Eurofighter jets under NATO command took off Sunday after a drone was detected over Lithuania, and wreckage from the object later struck a moving civilian car in the country’s north. No one was hurt.
A NATO official confirmed the scramble, as relayed by an Italian news agency. “We can confirm that this morning, two Italian Eurofighter jets were scrambled in response to the presence of a drone in Lithuanian airspace. The aircraft were operating under NATO command,” a NATO official said. The official added that an investigation was underway and that the alliance was in close contact with Lithuanian authorities.
“NATO is ready and able to respond to any potential threat, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to safeguard our territory and protect our population,” the official said.
Defense Minister Robertas Kaunas said early information suggested the object crossed into Lithuania from Poland, according to the country’s public broadcaster. “I have already contacted the Polish defence minister and asked Poland to join the investigation so that we can look into this incident together,” he told reporters.
Officials said the wreckage hit a vehicle traveling from Birzai toward Pasvalys. Prime Minister Mindaugas Sinkevicius said the driver heard a blast before debris hit the car and dented its door. Police sealed off the site and began collecting evidence.
Vilmantas Vitkauskas, head of the National Crisis Management Center, told a public radio outlet the object was most likely a Ukrainian drone. He said it may have strayed into Lithuania during Kyiv’s strikes on Russia’s St Petersburg region.
Kaunas said bad weather kept the scrambled pilots from identifying the object by sight. He also questioned why an air alert went out only in northern Lithuania, calling the situation “strange and unacceptable.” The military has been ordered to deliver a detailed report, and officials will examine whether public warnings were delayed.
President Gitanas Nauseda said Russia’s war against Ukraine “is spilling over onto the Eastern flank of NATO and EU.”
“What appears to be a drone exploded over the northern part of the country, posing a danger to the civilian population,” he wrote on X.
Kyiv Points to Possible Russian Electronic Warfare
Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Heorhii Tykhyi said Kyiv regrets the incident. He suggested Russian electronic warfare may have pulled the drone off course during an operation against “legitimate military targets in Russia.”
“We apologise for any disruption, risks, and concern this may have caused,” he wrote on X.
Tykhyi said Ukraine will share all relevant information with Lithuanian officials to establish exactly what happened and prevent a repeat.
“We sincerely thank Lithuania, our ally, for supporting Ukraine in countering Russian aggression, which is the root case of the security threats in our region,” he said.
A NATO official confirmed the scramble, as relayed by an Italian news agency. “We can confirm that this morning, two Italian Eurofighter jets were scrambled in response to the presence of a drone in Lithuanian airspace. The aircraft were operating under NATO command,” a NATO official said. The official added that an investigation was underway and that the alliance was in close contact with Lithuanian authorities.
“NATO is ready and able to respond to any potential threat, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to safeguard our territory and protect our population,” the official said.
Defense Minister Robertas Kaunas said early information suggested the object crossed into Lithuania from Poland, according to the country’s public broadcaster. “I have already contacted the Polish defence minister and asked Poland to join the investigation so that we can look into this incident together,” he told reporters.
Officials said the wreckage hit a vehicle traveling from Birzai toward Pasvalys. Prime Minister Mindaugas Sinkevicius said the driver heard a blast before debris hit the car and dented its door. Police sealed off the site and began collecting evidence.
Vilmantas Vitkauskas, head of the National Crisis Management Center, told a public radio outlet the object was most likely a Ukrainian drone. He said it may have strayed into Lithuania during Kyiv’s strikes on Russia’s St Petersburg region.
Kaunas said bad weather kept the scrambled pilots from identifying the object by sight. He also questioned why an air alert went out only in northern Lithuania, calling the situation “strange and unacceptable.” The military has been ordered to deliver a detailed report, and officials will examine whether public warnings were delayed.
President Gitanas Nauseda said Russia’s war against Ukraine “is spilling over onto the Eastern flank of NATO and EU.”
“What appears to be a drone exploded over the northern part of the country, posing a danger to the civilian population,” he wrote on X.
Kyiv Points to Possible Russian Electronic Warfare
Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Heorhii Tykhyi said Kyiv regrets the incident. He suggested Russian electronic warfare may have pulled the drone off course during an operation against “legitimate military targets in Russia.”
“We apologise for any disruption, risks, and concern this may have caused,” he wrote on X.
Tykhyi said Ukraine will share all relevant information with Lithuanian officials to establish exactly what happened and prevent a repeat.
“We sincerely thank Lithuania, our ally, for supporting Ukraine in countering Russian aggression, which is the root case of the security threats in our region,” he said.
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