NATO jets shoot down a drone in Lithuanian airspace

Lithuanian soldiers are securing the area where Italian fighter jets during NATO's Baltic Air Policing Mission shot down a drone early this morning near Pratkunai village, Kaisiadorys district some 90km (55,9 miles) northwest of the capital Vilnius, Lithuania, Tuesday. AP hide caption

VILNIUS, Lithuania — NATO fighter jets shot down a drone that entered Lithuanian airspace overnight, officials said Tuesday, the day after the head of NATO said strikes close to its territory would only increase its support for Ukraine in its war against Russia's full-scale invasion.

Military officials in Lithuania, a NATO member, said the incident marked the first time that a drone had been shot down in its airspace. Authorities didn't comment on the drone's origin or purpose, saying the incident needed further investigation.

The drone in Lithuania was downed near the village of Pratkūnai, about 60 miles (100 kilometers) west of the capital, Vilnius, and near the Kaunas Reservoir, Lithuania's National Crisis Management Center said Tuesday.

Officials in NATO countries including Germany, Denmark, the United Kingdom, and Poland have in recent weeks accused Russia of involvement in acts such as drone incursions, sabotage, arson, surveillance of defense facilities and planning to use a drone carrying explosives to attack an airport.

Rutte on Monday said strikes "close to NATO territory" showed Russian President Vladimir Putin's "desperation and also his desire to sow fear and terror."

"Russia is growing increasingly reckless as it continues its terrible war against Ukraine," Rutte said. He also pledged to bolster the 32-nation alliance's own defenses along its long eastern border with Russia and with Belarus, a Russian ally.

The menace of drones has repeatedly loomed over the skies of Lithuania, which shares borders with Belarus and the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad. In May, residents of Vilnius were told to take shelter and the president and prime minister were taken to safe locations amid an alarm over drone activity near the border with Belarus.