Lithuania lifts 'Yellow alarm' after unidentified object tracked from Belarus
A warning for Vilnius and Utena was issued around 23:00 and withdrawn before midnight after an unidentified object from Belarus was tracked.
Lithuania rescinded an airspace danger warning late last night after detecting an unidentified object flying from the direction of Belarus, authorities said, while neighbouring Latvia also issued a temporary alert.
Around 23:00 local time Lithuanian authorities activated a precautionary "Yellow alarm", asking residents in the Vilnius and Utena regions to seek the nearest shelter and await further instructions. The warning was cancelled before midnight, officials said.
What officials reported
Vilmantas Vitkauskas, head of the National Crisis Management Centre, said the unidentified object was tracked moving above the Ignalina area and that it was unclear whether it was a drone. He said: "At this moment it is difficult to say whether it is a drone or some other object. Our air forces continue to track it."
Vitkauskas added that when residents received alerts shortly before 23:00 the object was roughly 30 to 50 kilometres from the Lithuanian border. He said combat aircraft participating in the air-defence mission were on standby and stressed: "If a decision is made to scramble the aircraft and neutralize the target, that will be done."
The company Lithuanian Airports said operations at Vilnius airport and the surrounding airspace were temporarily restricted because of the potential danger. At about 23:45 the warning for Vilnius district was lifted, and ten minutes later the alert for Utena was also withdrawn. Vilnius airport reported it continued to operate but warned of possible cancellations and delays.
Separately, the Latvian military warned residents near Ludza, along the Belarus border, to shelter due to an air threat. NATO's Baltic air policing mission deployed fighters in response to the object tracked from Belarus toward the Baltic Sea.
Photo: press material from the event
