An air raid alert has been issued in some regions of Lithuania following the detection of a drone near the country's border; aerial patrols are underway. The UAV likely approached from Belarus.
It was reported by the Lithuanian Ministry of Defense on May 20, according to LRT.
"Lithuania declared an air raid alert in some areas of the country after a drone, likely approaching from Belarus, was spotted near the border," the statement said.
It also notes that a NATO operation to patrol the airspace in the Baltic region has been activated.
"This incident is similar to what we have seen in recent days in Latvia and Estonia; warning residents is a standard precautionary measure," the military said in a previous statement, according to LRT.
It is reported that drone activity was detected in areas near the border in eastern Lithuania. The warning was later extended to the capital, Vilnius, and surrounding areas.
"One drone was spotted over the Vilnius region," Vilmantas Vitkauskas, head of the National Crisis Management Center, said Wednesday morning.
Residents of these areas received notifications about the possible presence of a drone in the vicinity, and a yellow air threat level was declared in these areas. Later, a “red”—emergency—alert level was declared in the Vilnius region.
As a reminder, Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur announced on May 19 that Baltic air defense had shot down a drone that entered Estonian airspace for the first time. It is likely that the drone was of Ukrainian origin.
As the Ukrainian News agency earlier reported, on the night of May 13, a hot air balloon from Belarus carrying six boxes of contraband cigarettes once again drifted into Lithuania.
Earlier, Latvian Prime Minister Evika Siliņa submitted her resignation to the Saeima amid a political crisis and incidents involving drone incursions.
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