Lithuania resumes search for downed drone as authorities work to identify type

Lithuania’s National Crisis Management Centre has resumed search operations for the wreckage of the drone that crashed on May 17 in the Utena district, Vilmantas Vitkauskas, head of the centre, has stated.

In an interview with LRT RADIO, he said data collected on May 18 will help determine the exact type of unmanned aerial vehicle, Caliber.Az reports.

According to him, no signs of an explosion or explosive material have been found so far.

He noted that preliminary assessments suggest the drone may be Ukrainian, although several variants of the aircraft are still being considered.

“It looks like a Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicle. But right now we must rely not on assumptions, but on facts,” Vitkauskas added.

He stressed that specialists are investigating how the drone entered Lithuanian airspace, at what altitude it was flying, and what gaps exist in the country’s detection systems.

Police and members of the special Aéro unit are working at the site to collect all fragments of the aircraft to reconstruct its flight path and possible objectives.

Earlier, residents reported seeing the drone crash on the evening of May 17.

Following similar incidents, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda warned that the use of the country’s territory for drone attacks would constitute a serious violation of sovereignty and international law.

By Bakhtiyar Abbasov