NATO jets twice fail to down drone over Lithuania

NATO fighter jets tried twice overnight to shoot down a drone over northern Lithuania and missed both times. Air-raid warnings went out across Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia during the night from Tuesday, November 10, to Wednesday, November 11, as unmanned aircraft moved in from Belarus. After the failed interceptions near Biržai, the drone flew on into Latvia. Fighters there could not get into position to engage it, and it went on through Estonia and into Russia, Euronews reported. Finland also put temporary limits on air and sea traffic in the eastern Gulf of Finland.euronews.com+1

Two missed shots

Rear Admiral Giedrius Premeneckas, chief of the Lithuanian Armed Forces Defence Staff, said pilots first spotted the drone over Kaunas. They held fire there because it was over a city and falling debris could have caused damage. Once it headed north toward Panevėžys, the jets had two chances to bring it down, and both failed. One missile missed and came down in Biržai district. Prime Minister Mindaugas Sinkevičius said debris from a missile fired by a NATO jet had been found near Biržai and promised the night's events would be "thoroughly investigated". Vilmantas Vitkauskas, head of the National Crisis Management Centre, said the jets "came quite close." He suggested poor weather or an unsafe place to shoot may explain why they did not hit it, LRT reported.lrt.lt+1

Officials said four drones were detected in the region. Only one, which crossed from Belarus near Druskininkai around 1:20 a.m., entered Lithuanian airspace. It briefly crossed into Poland before turning north. Lithuania's highest-level red alerts were in effect from 00:38 to 02:02 for areas including Kaunas, Panevėžys and Biržai.aerotime.aero+1

Alerts move north

In Latvia, Baltic air-policing fighters escorted a drone arriving from Lithuania across five regions, including Madona and Cēsis. It left Latvian territory around 3:20 a.m., probably for Estonia, Latvian Naval Captain Seldzis Grasmanis said. Estonia issued warnings for six southern counties and later for Lääne-Viru and Ida-Viru, and a defense spokesperson told public broadcaster ERR that NATO jets had been scrambled.eng.lsm.lv+1

Likely Ukrainian, officials say

Defence Minister Robertas Kaunas said the drones were most likely Ukrainian. He said they were probably aimed at the Russian port of Ust-Luga but went off course. Russian electronic warfare may have pushed them off their route. Leningrad region governor Aleksandr Drozdenko said a drone attack started a fire at the port and injured three workers.elta.lt+2

Separate balloon sightings closed Vilnius and Kaunas airports, disrupting three flights. Vitkauskas also dismissed online claims that Lithuania lets Ukrainian drones use its airspace as "an absolute lie." President Gitanas Nausėda warned that "as long as Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine continues, the incursion of combat drones into Lithuanian territory may happen again".lrt.lt+1