Russian Gerbera drone shot down over Lithuania after being diverted by Ukrainian EW

Why it matters

This was the first drone shot down in Lithuanian airspace and the first such interception by NATO air-policing aircraft over Lithuania, establishing a precedent for how the alliance responds to unauthorised aerial intrusions near the Russian and Belarusian borders. The drone was carrying explosives, raising the stakes of any future incident. Lithuanian leaders used the episode to push for improved drone detection and cheaper, more effective interception methods, while announcing a diplomatic protest to Belarus and allied consultations — signalling both a bilateral and NATO-level response to a spillover risk directly linked to Russia's war against Ukraine.

What happened

On the night of Tuesday, September 15, an unidentified drone entered Lithuanian airspace from the direction of Belarus. Italian fighter jets from the NATO air-policing mission based at Šiauliai air base intercepted it and shot it down near the village of Pratkūnai in the Kaišiadorys district, not far from the Kruonis pumped-storage hydroelectric plant. This was the first time a NATO aircraft had downed a drone in Lithuanian airspace.

Lithuanian sappers neutralised an explosive device found on the wreckage, and the site was cordoned off under the activated "Shield" plan while Lithuanian armed forces and police worked the scene. The drone's electronic components were being analysed to determine where, how and under what circumstances it arrived.

On September 16, after a meeting of the Lithuanian State Defence Council, President Gitanas Nausėda said the drone was most likely a Russian Gerbera-type UAV that had originally been intended to strike Ukraine. He said it was knocked off course by Ukrainian electronic warfare and ended up in Lithuanian territory. Nausėda stressed that the incident was most likely not a deliberate attack against Lithuania but warned that similar cases could recur, and he urged the Defence Ministry to consider cheaper, more effective alternatives to using fighter jets against drones. Vilnius's proximity to the border, he noted, left Lithuania little time to respond once a target was detected.

Foreign Minister Kęstutis Budrys said Lithuania would deliver a protest note to Belarus and consult with allies. Italian Defence Minister Guido Crosetto said the downed drone was likely Russian. Lithuanian Defence Minister Robertas Kaunas confirmed that sappers had neutralised the explosive device on board.

How Ukrainian sources describe it

All available sources are Ukrainian-language outlets, and they frame the incident firmly through the lens of the Russia–Ukraine war. Coverage identifies the drone as Russian and originally intended for Ukraine, emphasising that Ukrainian electronic warfare diverted it before it could reach its target — implicitly tying the Lithuanian shoot-down to Ukrainian air-defence operations. Ukrainian outlets cite Ukrainian Air Force reports that Gerbera-type drones, including jet-powered variants, were flying over northern Ukraine on the night of the incident, reinforcing that connection.

Ukrainian sources also highlight earlier statements by Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, who had attributed previous drone incursions in the Baltic region to Russian electronic warfare deflecting Ukrainian drones off targets inside Russia — a precedent now used to explain how Russian drones can end up in NATO airspace. The framing centres Lithuania's response — the presidential statements, the diplomatic protest to Belarus, NATO consultations — while tying the root cause back to Russian strikes on Ukraine.

Where reporting differs

The exact location of the interception is described with varying precision across sources: multiple outlets place it near the village of Pratkūnai in the Kaišiadorys district, while others specifically locate it near the Kruonis pumped-storage hydroelectric plant. The two descriptions are compatible but emphasise different landmarks.

Sources also differ in tone: some frame the shoot-down primarily as a NATO air-policing success and a precedent — the first NATO drone intercept over Lithuania — while others stress that using fighters and missiles against drones is expensive and ineffective, presenting the same event both as a successful first intercept and as evidence of a capability gap that Lithuania needs to address.

Background

Russia's Gerbera is a type of unmanned aerial vehicle observed in attacks on Ukraine; the Ukrainian Air Force reported Gerbera-type UAVs flying over northern Ukraine on the night of the Lithuanian incident. Earlier drone incursions had already been recorded in the airspace of Latvia and Estonia, and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Sybiha previously attributed some of those cases to Ukrainian drones diverted from targets inside Russia by Russian electronic warfare — showing that drone spillover into neighbouring countries has been a recurring issue on both sides.

Two days before the Lithuanian shoot-down, on September 13, Lithuanian authorities issued a yellow-level air-raid alert over Vilnius and surrounding districts after a possible drone sighting, which was later determined to be a flock of birds. Belarus also began four-day military exercises near its borders with Poland and Lithuania shortly before the incident, involving border-defence and counter-drone drills.