Nausėda: Drone Downed in Lithuania Was Likely Headed for Ukraine — Diverted by Ukrainian Electronic Warfare

Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda said on Wednesday that the drone downed in Lithuanian airspace on Tuesday was likely targeted at Ukraine, but was diverted from its course due to Ukrainian electronic warfare.

It is a “Gerbera”-type drone — a cheap Russian drone made of foam, with long range, often used as a decoy for air defenses but which can also carry explosives. “It was likely not a deliberate act against Lithuania,” Nausėda said, adding that the Lithuanian military is analyzing the drone’s electronics to determine its target precisely.

This is the first suspected Russian drone downed by NATO’s Baltic air policing mission, which has patrolled the region’s skies since the Baltic states joined NATO in 2004. NATO’s eastern flank countries have seen repeated drone incursions in recent months, fueling fears that the war could spread beyond the alliance’s borders. Russia has not commented on the incident.

On Monday, the Polish military pulled from the sea off Poland’s northern Baltic coast what appears to be a Russian drone, the defense minister announced.

Nausėda stressed that “the security situation has not changed,” but warned there could be “certain incidents, provocations, acts of sabotage, including false-flag operations,” as well as possible attacks against Russian opposition activists or supporters of Ukraine.

Source: Reuters