Lithuanian officials announced Sunday that they discovered a crashed Ukrainian military drone within their borders, according to the country’s National Crisis Management Centre.
The unmanned aircraft went undetected as it crossed into Lithuanian territory and was not carrying any explosive devices, according to Vilmantas Vitkauskas, who leads the crisis management center.
Officials found the wreckage in the village of Samane, located approximately 40 kilometers from Latvia’s border and 55 kilometers from Belarus, the center reported.
Ukrainian officials have not yet responded to the incident.
In a related development, Latvia’s military issued a drone warning Sunday morning near its Russian border, prompting NATO fighter jets on Baltic Air Police duty to respond to the area.
According to the Latvian army, one drone briefly crossed into Latvian territory during the alert period.
Beginning in March, multiple Ukrainian drones have strayed into the airspace of NATO countries Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, all of which share borders with Russia and its partner Belarus.
Ukrainian officials have repeatedly stated that these wayward drones were intended to target Russian military installations but became misdirected due to Russian electronic interference.
Several of these aircraft have crashed and detonated upon impact, including two drones that struck a Latvian oil storage facility on May 7, causing fires.
Following that incident, Latvian Prime Minister Evika Silina dismissed her defense minister, which ultimately resulted in her government’s collapse on May 14.
In April, the three Baltic nations declared they have never permitted their land or airspace to be used for drone strikes against Russian targets.
