Ukrainian drone crashed in Lithuania: NATO raises air force again

IN Lithuania found explosives near the wreckage of what was probably a Ukrainian drone. It will be destroyed on the spot by a controlled explosion.

IN Lithuania Explosives were found near the wreckage of a drone, presumably belonging to the Ukrainian military. Authorities said it was too dangerous to transport, so the material would be destroyed on site in a controlled explosion.

The incident occurred in the village area Shamanapproximately 40 km from the border with Latvia and approximately 55 km from the border with Belarus. According to KathimeriniLithuanian authorities believe that we are talking about a Ukrainian military drone that fell on the territory of the country.

According to Reuterspreviously National Crisis Management Center of Lithuania reported that the drone entered the country’s airspace undetected. This in itself is an unpleasant signal for a NATO country: the drone crossed the border, flew across the territory and was discovered only after it fell. Excellent advertising for early warning systems, if it were an advertisement for disasters.

Explosives will be destroyed on site

Lithuanian police later reported that explosive materials had been found near the wreckage. As he writes Business Dailythey are considered too dangerous to transport and must be destroyed on site by controlled explosion.

Kyiv at the time of publication had not officially commented on the incident. Previously, the Ukrainian side, in similar cases, stated that individual drones could go astray due to Russian electronic warfare systems. However, for the Baltic countries, this version does not remove the main question: why NATO airspace again turned out to be vulnerable to low-flying drones.

Anxiety in Latvia too

Parallel Latvia reported alarm due to the possible appearance of a drone along the border with Russia. According to SKAIwithin the mission NATO Baltic Air Policing NATO fighter jets were scrambled to check the situation.

A series of similar episodes is increasing anxiety on NATO’s eastern flank. Early May Reuters has already reported on the fall of drones in Latvia, after which local authorities declared an air raid alert and closed schools in border areas. These incidents are part of a broader problem: the war in Ukraine is increasingly having spillover effects on neighboring countries.

Editorial comment

Probably a Ukrainian drone crashed in Lithuania is not just a technical incident. If a drone with or near explosives passes undetected through the airspace of a NATO country, then the problem is not only the origin of the device, but the ability of the alliance to control low-altitude threats.

For Kyiv such episodes also become politically unpleasant. Even if the drone was indeed knocked off course by Russian interference, neighboring countries will be asking questions about the risks, routes, controls and safety. The war has long gone beyond the front, and now its debris is literally falling on the territories of those who are not formally participating in the hostilities.

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