NATO Downs Drone Over Lithuania as Ukraine War Tensions Escalate

 NATO fighter jets shot down a drone that entered Lithuanian airspace overnight, officials said Tuesday, less than a day after NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte warned that strikes close to alliance territory would prompt the trans-Atlantic organization to increase its support for Ukraine.

Military officials in Lithuania, a NATO member, said it was the first time a drone had been shot down in the country’s airspace. Authorities did not comment on the drone’s origin or purpose, saying the incident required further investigation.

The drone 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.

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

Rutte said Monday that strikes “close to NATO territory” demonstrated 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 strengthen the 32-nation alliance’s defenses along its eastern border with Russia and Belarus, a Russian ally.

Drone likely carried explosives

The threat from drones has repeatedly emerged over Lithuania, which borders Belarus and Russia’s Kaliningrad exclave. In May, residents of Vilnius were ordered to take shelter while the president and prime minister were moved to secure locations amid an alert over drone activity near the Belarusian border.

Stray Ukrainian drones have also previously crossed into Baltic airspace. In May, a NATO fighter jet shot down a Ukrainian drone over southern Estonia.

Antanas Matutis, commander of the Lithuanian air force, said the wreckage of the drone had been recovered and that it was “likely” carrying explosives.

Vilmantas Vitkauskas, head of Lithuania’s crisis management center, told the country’s public broadcaster LRT that the drone most likely entered from Belarus. It remained in Lithuanian airspace for about 30 minutes and flew along the outskirts of populated areas before being intercepted, he said.

In a separate incident Tuesday, Denmark’s Foreign Ministry said a Danish air force helicopter had been fired upon with flares while conducting “routine photographic coverage” of a Russian frigate in waters off the port of Gedser in the Baltic Sea.

“This is completely unacceptable,” the ministry said on X, adding that the Russian ambassador had been summoned.

Russia’s ambassador to Denmark, Vladimir Barbin, said it was “not the first time” Danish Air Force helicopters had carried out “dangerous maneuvers near Russian warships.” He accused the Danish helicopter of taking “provocative actions against the Russian frigate.”

The Kremlin declined to comment. Presidential spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said he did not have details of the incident.

Kyiv says it is ready to support de-escalation

Russian drone strikes continued across Ukraine following a social media post Monday by U.S. President Donald Trump claiming that Russia and Ukraine had agreed “not to hit” each other’s energy infrastructure.

Trump provided no further details about the reported agreement. Previous attempts to broker even a partial ceasefire have repeatedly collapsed within hours, with both sides accusing each other of violations.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said late Monday that Kyiv was “ready to support de-escalation” if the United States could ensure that “Russia is genuinely ready to stop this war.”

But in a statement Tuesday, Zelenskyy said Moscow had continued to attack Ukraine’s energy sector, logistics and critical infrastructure. Kyiv responded by striking an oil refinery in Syzran, a city in western Russia, he said.

“There is no alternative to ending this war. And all forms of pressure on Russia must create the right diplomatic conditions,” Zelenskyy said.

The Kremlin said Tuesday that it considered Trump’s proposal for a ceasefire on energy infrastructure to be “a good idea.”

However, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said attacks on Russian oil refineries were not the root cause of global supply problems involving gas or diesel.

“The core problem lies in the export of petroleum products to global markets,” Peskov said. He called for guarantees of safe navigation for oil tankers and the lifting of global sanctions on Russian oil.

Ukraine’s State Emergency Service said Tuesday that Russian strikes on Kyiv had killed one person and wounded seven others since the beginning of the day. The attacks included strikes on gas stations in the capital.

Two other people were killed in separate Russian strikes in the Ukrainian cities of Sloviansk and Kramatorsk, the emergency service said.

Meanwhile, Russia’s Defense Ministry said its forces had shot down 222 Ukrainian drones overnight.

A “massive” Ukrainian drone attack caused several fires in the Russian city of Taganrog, regional Gov. Yuri Slyusar said. Two apartment buildings and three private homes were damaged, along with an educational institution, agricultural warehouses and a facility belonging to Russian online retailer Ozon, he said.

Zelenskyy said Tuesday that Ukrainian forces had targeted a drone production facility in the city.

Ukrainian parliament votes to dismiss prosecutor general

Ukraine’s parliament voted Tuesday to dismiss Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko as a series of corruption investigations intensified political tensions in Kyiv.

Kravchenko submitted his resignation Sept. 7 amid an investigation by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau into corruption in his office. No formal suspicion had been issued against him. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had suspended Kravchenko from his post a day earlier.

Kravchenko had served as prosecutor general since June 21, 2025.

A series of corruption scandals has damaged Zelenskyy’s approval ratings at a time when Ukraine remains locked in a struggle for survival against Russia’s full-scale invasion, now in its fourth and a half year.

Source : AP