Lithuania's leaders take shelter during drone air alert

Flights were suspended and people were urged to take shelter after a suspected drone was detected near the Belarus border. Lithuania's leaders take shelter during drone air alert Copyright current_year BBC. All rights reserved. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking. Copyright current_year BBC. All rights reserved. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking. Lithuanian parliamentarians were sent to a shelter during the alert People gather inside a shelter at the Lithuanian parliament after an 'air danger' warning. Lithuania's president and prime minister were forced to take shelter on Tuesday, when a drone alert caused the capital Vilnius to come to a standstill. President Gitanas Nauseda and Prime Minister Inga Ruginiene were taken to emergency shelters following the air alert, which ordered the city's population to take cover. Flights were suspended and road and rail travel briefly ground to a halt. The alert has since been lifted. It is not yet clear who was behind the incursion. It came a day after Estonia said Nato shot down a drone over its territory, which it suspected was a Ukrainian projectile knocked off course by Russian electronic interference. A fragment of the downed drone on the ground in Estonia. Photo: 19 May 2026 Estonia says Nato jet shot down drone over its territory It was the latest in a series of recent drone incursions over Nato members Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. An alert from Lithuania's defence ministry on Wednesday said: "Immediately take shelter in a safe place, take care of your close ones, await new recommendations." Lithuania's national crisis management centre earlier said it had issued an alert in response to a drone in neighbouring Belarus that was seen flying towards Lithuania. The drone's origin had not been confirmed, the centre added. Lithuania's military later said Nato jets had been deployed to shoot down the drone but could not locate it. An evacuation order was also issued at the Seimas, Lithuania's parliament, according to local media, with politicians and staff led down to a basement shelter. On Tuesday, Estonian officials said a Nato fighter jet had shot down a suspected Ukrainian drone. No damage was reported. Ukraine responded by accusing Moscow of deliberately redirecting Ukrainian drones launched at "legitimate military targets" in Russia and apologising to "Estonia and all of our Baltic friends for such unintended incidents". Last week, Latvian Prime Minister Evika Silina resigned after a political crisis over Russia-bound Ukrainian drones straying into Latvian territory. Earlier this month, two Ukrainian drones hit an empty oil storage site in Latvia. Ukraine said this was the result of electronic jamming by Russia. A similar incident was reported by Estonia and Latvia in March. Moscow has accused the three Baltic states of allowing Ukraine to use their "air corridors" to strike targets inside Russia - a claim which has been denied by Tallinn, Riga and Vilnius. Ukraine has recently intensified its drone and missile attacks against targets in Russia, including oil and gas facilities near the Baltic states. Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Wednesday said the Russian military was closely monitoring instances of drones flying through the Baltic states' airspace, and is formulating an appropriate response, Russian state news agency TASS reported. A map showing Lithuania and its capital Vilnius, and also Estonia, Latvia, Belarus, Russia and Ukraine Among Bruel's latest accusers is well-known TV and radio presenter Flavie Flament, who alleges he raped her in 1991. Estonia suspects the drone was a Ukrainian projectile knocked off course by Russian electronic jamming. Police say a 25-year-old man is suspected of killing his parents and injuring four others in southern Spain. The change reflects increasing supply concerns over certain fuels due to the effective blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. In letters sent to the BBC from prison, Hayden Davies says he has had no contact with British authorities. Machines are increasingly replacing humans on the front line, but troops are still vital for defending territory. Ukraine's president says the strikes are a "justified" response to deadly Russian attacks on Ukrainian cities. Among the victims in Kyiv was 12-year-old Lyubava Yakovleva, whose father was killed during the war.