Yesterday, Russia launched an unarmed Gerbera drone into Lithuania from Belarus raising a security alert that prompted Prime Minister Gintautas Paluckas and other senior politicians to evacuate parliament and take cover in a bomb shelter. The drone was not shot down, but fell on its own near the Šumskas checkpoint, after flying into Lithuania airspace for three minutes.
NATO and the Lithuanian military are investigating the incident.
Lithuanian Defence Minister Dovilė Šakalienė said that “The object was most likely an accidental incursion,” and she noted there was “no data yet suggesting it was intentionally sent into Lithuanian territory.”
Yesterday, on the same day of the drone incursion, a pro-Russian media outlet published a statement by Russia’s spokesperson of the Foreign Ministry saying that “The Baltics are at the forefront of destabilizing the region.” The spokesperson, Maria Zakharova, accused the Baltics of creating tension with Russia that does not serve their security interest. Last week the dictator of Belarus Aleksandr Lukashenko accused the Baltic states of serving as NATO battlefield’s against Russia and Belarus.
Newsroom
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