Vilnius Airport closed and NATO jets scrambled in drone scare at Belarus border

Vilnius airport was closed for less than an hour on Saturday morning and NATO Baltic Air Policing jets were scrambled after a suspected drone was reported flying into Lithuania from the direction of Belarus, the country’s National Crisis Management Centre said.

The centre told Reuters the closure was imposed after the possible drone was detected, and that authorities were still working to determine what caused the alert. Residents in the Vilnius region were advised to be prepared to seek shelter if necessary.

Lithuania’s National Crisis Control Centre later confirmed the airport had reopened after the drone alert was lifted. A yellow air alert had been declared in Vilnius County, according to reports carried by Polish broadcaster RMF24, after an unidentified flying object — likely a drone — was spotted; the head of the crisis centre, Vilmantas Vitkauskas, said scrambled fighter jets were carrying out the necessary procedures.

Some of the sightings came from residents reporting a potential object moving from the outskirts of Vilnius toward Jonava, rather than from air-defence radar data, the centre said. The object was not conclusively identified.

The incident adds to a string of airspace scares across the Baltic region amid the war in Ukraine. In September, Lithuania issued a similar alert and shot down a drone that violated its airspace — the first such shootdown over Lithuanian territory, according to the country’s crisis officials. It came as neighbouring Latvia holds a parliamentary election on Saturday, with security featuring prominently in the campaign.