Drone incidents in Lithuania and Romania test NATO air defences on its eastern flank

A drone entered Lithuanian airspace on Sunday, October 18, and exploded over the north of the country, damaging a civilian car and sending residents to shelters, according to President Gitanas Nausėda as reported by the Kyiv Independent and Notes from Poland. NATO fighter jets were scrambled but could not identify the object in cloud and did not try to shoot it down. A day earlier, Romanian F-16s shot down two drones over Romania's Black Sea waters, Reuters reported.

Lithuania: whose drone, and from where

No injuries were reported. The object disappeared from radar, possibly after exploding, and local officials examined suspected debris near the village of Juodžionys in northern Lithuania, the Kyiv Independent reported. The jets took off from Šiauliai air base, Notes from Poland said.

Nausėda said the incident showed that "Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine is spilling over onto the eastern flank of NATO and EU."

Lithuanian officials say the drone was Ukrainian. Prime Minister Mindaugas Sinkevičius said there was no doubt it entered from the Polish side and that the evidence points to Ukrainian origin, according to Notes from Poland. Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Heorhii Tykhyi said Russian electronic warfare may have diverted drones during an operation against military targets in Russia, apologised for the disruption and said Kyiv would share information with Lithuania. He did not say what type of drone it was or where it was launched.

The route is disputed. Defence Minister Robertas Kaunas said preliminary information showed the drone came from Polish airspace and asked Poland to join the investigation. A Polish defence ministry spokesman told PAP there was no radar confirmation of an object crossing from Poland, Notes from Poland reported. Polsat cited unnamed ministry sources as saying the drone took off inside Lithuania, about 30 km from the border; on Monday the ministry strongly rejected those reports and said its analysis with Lithuania was continuing.

On the same day, Lithuanian authorities said they had stopped an overnight arson attempt on a company storing Starlink equipment, the Kyiv Independent reported. Sinkevičius said he believed Russian actors commissioned it; the investigation is continuing.

Romania: two jet-powered drones shot down

Romania's defence ministry said two F-16s from Borcea air base shot down two drones over Romanian territorial waters on Saturday, October 17, after they entered its airspace at 5:59 p.m. and 6:01 p.m. local time, according to Reuters and the Kyiv Independent. The ministry identified them as jet-powered Geran-family attack drones, the type Russia uses against Ukraine, but did not say whose they were.

Defence Minister Radu Miruta said they were likely latest-generation Russian drones flying at about 450 km/h. "This is the first time we've shot down drones like these," he said, according to Reuters.

The incident came days after two chemical tankers anchored near the Sulina Canal were hit by drones; a NATO military source told Reuters they were Russian, and Romanian officials are still searching for seven missing crew. Reuters reported that at least five other cargo ships have been hit near the Romanian and Bulgarian coasts in the past two weeks, with 23 sailors dead or missing. Foreign Minister Oana Țoiu said the North Atlantic Council would meet on Tuesday, October 20, to discuss Black Sea defence and deterrence.

Reuters also reported that five drones identified as Russian fell on Moldovan territory over Thursday and Friday, and that another crashed in northern Moldova on Sunday without casualties; its origin was being established.

A NATO official told Reuters the alliance was ready to react to any threat at any hour.