{"id":203723,"date":"2026-09-15T11:40:00","date_gmt":"2026-09-15T08:40:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/203723\/"},"modified":"2026-09-15T11:40:02","modified_gmt":"2026-09-15T08:40:02","slug":"nauseda-aide-minsk-gave-no-warning-about-stray-drone","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/203723\/","title":{"rendered":"Naus\u0117da aide: Minsk gave no warning about stray drone"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

September 15, Pozirk.<\/em> <\/strong>Minsk did not warn Vilnius about a drone that entered Lithuania via Belarus overnight, senior Lithuanian official Deividas Matulionis has told \u017dini\u0173 radijas<\/em> following reports of a drone incursion into his country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shortly after midnight, the Lithuanian military detected a flying object entering Lithuania\u2019s airspace. Residents of Vilnius and several regions received warnings of a potential aerial threat. Italian NATO fighter jets were scrambled from the \u0160iauliai air base to intercept it. The drone\u2019s wreckage was later found in the Kai\u0161iadorys district in central Lithuania.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vilmantas Vitkauskas, head of the National Crisis Management Center, said there was a high probability that the drone was carrying an explosive device. Its origin remains unclear, with Matulionis suggesting that it could have been a Russian or Ukrainian drone that had strayed off course.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There have been \u201cno warnings from the Belarusian side\u201d regarding such incidents \u201crecently,\u201d said the official, who serves as aide to Lithuanian President Gitanas Naus\u0117da, Delfi<\/em> reports, citing him as saying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The drone incursion occurred hours after John Coale, US special envoy for Belarus, met with Lithuanian Foreign Minister K\u0119stutis Budrys in Vilnius ahead of his expected trip to Minsk, where he is expected to seek the release of 200 to 300 political prisoners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A month ago, Latvia reported a similar incident, with NATO patrol fighter jets shooting down a drone that had entered Latvian airspace from Belarus. Latvian Defense Minister Raivis Melnis said the drone had been knocked off course by Russian electronic jamming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Baltic states reportedly recorded at least 24 drone incursions between January 2025 and May 2026, with Latvia reporting at least 12 incidents, Lithuania seven and Estonia five.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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