Lithuania lifts drone alert after fighter jet confirms radar return was birds
Lithuanian authorities declared an air danger over parts of the country on 13 September, scrambled NATO fighter jets and briefly suspended Vilnius Airport over a suspected drone. The alert was lifted after a NATO pilot visually confirmed the radar return was a flock of birds, though earlier officials had said the object was most likely a drone.
Key points
- Alert issued at 12:59 on 13 September for Vilnius, Vilnius district, Trakai district and Elektrėnai district
- Vilnius Airport temporarily suspended; residents received SMS warnings to seek shelter
- NATO Baltic air-policing jets from Šiauliai Air Base, where Italian Air Force Eurofighter Typhoons are based, were scrambled
- NKVC later said radar signals were caused by a flock of birds, visually confirmed by a NATO pilot
- Earlier NKVC head Vilmantas Vitkauskas said the object was most likely a drone that flew 60–70 km through Lithuanian airspace toward Kaliningrad
- Alert was lifted within roughly 38–46 minutes; sources give either 13:37 or 13:45 as the lift time
- Same night, Russian drones struck western Ukraine, damaging a petrol station near the Yahodyn border crossing with Poland
Why it matters
The incident illustrates how quickly NATO's Baltic air-policing mission can be activated over a potential airspace incursion, including the visual confirmation step carried out by the fighter pilot. It also occurred on a night of Russian drone strikes on western Ukraine and damage near the Ukraine-Poland border, sharpening regional concern about cross-border drone threats.
What happened
At 12:56 on 13 September, Lithuania received data about a possible unidentified object in its airspace. Three minutes later, at 12:59, the National Crisis Management Centre declared an air danger covering Vilnius, Vilnius district, Trakai district and Elektrėnai district, sent SMS warnings to residents advising them to seek shelter, and temporarily suspended operations at Vilnius Airport. NATO Baltic air-policing fighter jets from Šiauliai Air Base — where Italian Air Force Eurofighter Typhoons are based — were scrambled. Earlier in the day, NKVC head Vilmantas Vitkauskas told LRT that an object had been recorded by Lithuanian Armed Forces radars near Varėna at 04:05, had flown around 60–70 km through Lithuanian airspace, and was most likely a drone heading toward Russia's Kaliningrad Oblast; he said the object had most likely come from Belarus. A later NKVC statement said the radar returns had been caused by a flock of birds, with visual confirmation from the NATO pilot. The alert was lifted after roughly 38 minutes; sources give the cancellation time as either 13:37 or 13:45. A Vilnius marathon taking place at the same time was not interrupted. The incident coincided with a night of Russian drone strikes on western Ukraine that damaged a petrol station near the Yahodyn crossing on the Ukraine-Poland border and struck a passenger train locomotive about two kilometres from the Polish border; Polish officials said Polish airspace had not been violated.
How Ukrainian sources describe it
Ukrainian-language coverage links the Lithuanian alert directly to the same night's Russian drone strikes on western Ukraine, framing the regional drone threat as a cross-border Russian problem. Ukrainian sources also cite earlier statements by the foreign ministers of Lithuania and Estonia accusing Russia of deliberately redirecting drones into the Baltic states, and note that Ukrainian officials have previously said drones end up in Baltic countries because of Russian electronic warfare systems. Ukrainian Railways said the 13 September strike on a passenger train locomotive near the Polish border was the second consecutive day Russia had attacked the railway.
Where reporting differs
Sources disagree on what was actually in Lithuanian airspace on 13 September: initial NKVC statements and several reports said a drone had most likely entered Lithuanian airspace and flown toward Kaliningrad, while a later official NKVC statement said the radar signals had been caused by a flock of birds, visually confirmed by a NATO fighter pilot. Reports also differ on when the alert was lifted, with some citing 13:37 and others 13:45.
Background
Italy currently leads the NATO Baltic air-policing mission, with Eurofighter Typhoon jets based at Šiauliai Air Base in northern Lithuania. The Lithuanian alert came during a broader night of Russian drone activity against Ukraine, including strikes on western regions such as Ivano-Frankivsk, Stryi in Lviv Oblast and Ternopil, and damage near the Yahodyn-Dorohusk crossing on the Ukraine-Poland border. Earlier in 2026, the foreign ministers of Lithuania and Estonia accused Russia of deliberately redirecting drones into the Baltic states.