Lithuania's airspace was violated today by two Russian fighter planes, leading the NATO task force in the Baltic country to take off two fighters for interception, reported the ANSA agency.
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17/09/2026
by
Lusa
Aafter the detection of the violation of airspace, at the end of the afternoon, took off in Šiauliai two fighters Eurofighter F-2000 of the Italian Air Force, serving the “Baltic Thunder III” Air Force, announced ANSA by citing anonymous sources.
The operation, under NATO's air defense mission on the eastern flank of the Alliance, was coordinated by NATO's Combined Air Operations Centre in Uedem, Germany.
The episode takes place the day after Lithuania's President Gitanas Nauseda indicated that the drone shot down on Tuesday in Lithuanian airspace was Russian-made and targeted Ukraine, but was diverted by Kiev's electronic war systems.
“ According to the information we currently have, it was a ‘Gerbera’ type drone. Most likely, it was a Russian drone intended for Ukraine, which deviated from its route due to Ukrainian electronic war measures,” said the Lithuanian Head of State after a meeting of the National Defense Council.
In statements to public television LRT, Nauseda explained so that, although the device loaded with explosives entered Lithuanian territory on the district of Kaunas, it was not a deliberate attack on Lithuania.
Several NATO fighters shot down a drone in Lithuania's airspace on Tuesday after the aircraft's detection triggered the alarms.
“The Lithuanian Armed Forces and Italian pilots serving in the NATO Air Defense Mission responded quickly and responsibly,” said the Baltic Defense Ministry.
Just a few minutes earlier, the Lithuanian authorities had issued a yellow alert of “potentially detected drone” to the districts of Elektrenai, Trakai, Kaunas and Vilnius, in addition to the city itself, through the Lithuanian platform of civil protection and emergency preparation, the LT72.