Military drone crashes in Lithuania, suspected to be Ukrainian-origin

A drone has crashed in the Utena district of northern Lithuania, with initial assessments suggesting it is of Ukrainian origin, the country’s national broadcaster LRT reported, citing authorities. 

The Lithuanian National Crisis Management Centre (NKVC) said it received reports at around 19:00 local time on Sunday that a drone had been found crashed in a field near Samanė village.

At a press conference that evening, NKVC director Vilmantas Vitkauskas said the aircraft appeared to be a military drone, though he cautioned that further details were pending.

"It has crashed, but there are no signs of an explosion. Whether it carries a warhead or not is difficult to say at this stage," LRT quoted Vitkauskas as saying, adding that more precise information would be available once a specialist team had returned from the scene.

Lithuanian military radar did not detect the drone earlier in the day, according to the armed forces. The incident was reported by local residents.

Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda warned warring parties this week against using Lithuanian territory for drone strikes, saying this would constitute a gross violation of sovereignty and international law.

In March, a Ukrainian military drone also crashed in Lithuania’s southeastern Varėna district near the Belarusian border, which authorities said had veered off course due to Russian electronic warfare measures. Similar incidents have become more frequent in the Baltic region in recent months.