NATO surveillance over Europe: A drone bunkered the leadership of a country on the eastern flank and stopped all flights
A day after a drone was shot down in Estonia by an F-16 piloted by a Romanian, Lithuania's airspace was violated. The population was warned by phone messages, flights were stopped, and the country's leadership was urgently sheltered, according to AFP, quoted by News.ro.
At 10:20 a.m. local time on Wednesday, the Lithuanian military launched an air alert after detecting a suspicious aircraft originating from Belarus that entered the national airspace in the direction of Lentvaris, a small town located west of Vilnius. Later, the drone changed its direction and was followed by NATO planes.
“Air alert! Go immediately to a shelter or a safe place, take care of your family members and wait for new recommendations”, was the message received by the residents of the capital on their mobile phones.
Simultaneously, emergency protocols were activated at the highest level in state institutions. President Gitanas Nauseda and Prime Minister Inga Ruginiene were immediately taken to secure shelters to be protected from a possible impact.
The deputies of the Seimas, the Lithuanian parliament, were led, in turn, to an underground shelter. “Due to the risk of an air attack, we ask all people present in the building to go to the nearest shelter,” said an announcement broadcast over the Parliament's intercom.
Flights from Vilnius International Airport were suspended while NATO aircraft tracked the drone.
The drone, shot down by a Romanian F-16
A Romanian NATO F-16 fighter jet shot down a drone over Estonia on Tuesday. The aircraft had come from Russia and entered Estonian airspace through the southeastern part of the country.
The drone was monitored even before it crossed the border. The decision to shoot it down with a missile was made quickly to protect the civilian population and local infrastructure.
The incident in Estonia appears to be the latest case of Russian electronic jamming diverting long-range Ukrainian UAVs into Alliance territory, The Guardian wrote.
While Russia claims Ukraine is attacking from the Baltic states, they reject the allegations and accuse Moscow of manipulation.
