General: Belarus alert sends NATO jets racing over Lithuania's airspace

Lithuanian authorities received a warning from the military of Belarus via a hotline early on May 20 over a possible drone approaching Lithuanian airspace, prompting a rapid Baltic-wide air policing response, officials said.

According to statements cited by Delfi, General Nerijus Stankevicius said that both Lithuania and Latvia initially detected radar signals indicating unidentified aerial objects moving towards the region.

“Latvian authorities received similar information, so of course we responded,” Stankevicius said, adding that radar systems in both countries registered approaching objects.

In response, two fighter jets were scrambled from Ämari Air Base in Estonia as part of NATO’s Baltic air policing mission. The aircraft initially patrolled Latvian airspace before being redirected towards Lithuania as the suspected drone approached.

“We then recorded the approach of a drone towards our territory, and one of the fighter jets was redirected to Lithuania,” Stankevicius said.

Military aircraft were tasked with locating and, if necessary, neutralising the object. However, the operation ended without confirmation of any airborne target.

“It ended with no object being detected in the air. The fighter jets terminated the mission and returned to Estonia,” he added.

By Aghakazim Guliyev