Lithuanian president: Ukrainian jamming likely pushed Russian drone into Lithuanian airspace

Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda said after a meeting of the State Defense Council that the drone shot down by NATO fighter jets over Lithuania on the night of September 15 was a Russian-made Gerbera drone.

According to preliminary information, the drone had been heading toward Ukraine as part of an attack when Ukrainian electronic warfare systems apparently threw it off course, causing it to cross into Lithuanian airspace instead.

President warns of future incidents

Nausėda said such incidents could happen again and stressed the importance of detecting these drones as early as possible, ideally while they are still over neighboring countries, since Lithuania has very little time to prepare a response. Given the country's geographic position, he noted that Vilnius lies close to the border, meaning Lithuania needs the means to destroy such drones or other aircraft quickly once they are spotted.

First drone downed over Lithuanian territory

The incident marked the first time a drone was destroyed over Lithuania. NATO fighter jets shot down the drone after it entered the country's airspace on the night of September 15, with the interception taking place between Kaunas and Kaišiadorys, roughly 100 kilometers northwest of Vilnius.

Lithuania's Defense Minister Robertas Kaunas later said the drone had been carrying an explosive device, which was subsequently disarmed.