VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP) 鈥� Residents of Lithuania’s capital were told to take shelter and the president and prime minister were taken to safe locations on Wednesday after an near the border with Belarus, underlining jitters on NATO’s eastern flank over incursions related to .
An emergency announcement from the military urged people in the region of Vilnius, the country’s capital, to 鈥渋mmediately head to a shelter or a safe place.鈥�
The alert, which lasted for about an hour, also led to the closure of the airspace over Vilnius Airport. President Gitanas Nauseda and Prime Minister Inga Ruginiene were taken to shelters, and there was also an evacuation order at Lithuania’s parliament, the Seimas, the BNS news agency reported.
It was the first major alert that sent residents and political leaders in a European Union and NATO capital rushing to shelters since Russia鈥檚 invasion of neighbor Ukraine in February 2022.
It came hours after a NATO jet over southern Estonia. Ukraine apologized for that 鈥渦nintended incident,鈥� without specifying what had happened.
In another sign of heightened tensions, Britain鈥檚 military said Wednesday that two Russian jets 鈥渞epeatedly and dangerously鈥� intercepted a Royal Air Force spy plane over the Black Sea last month. The Ministry of Defense said one Su-35 aircraft flew close enough to trigger emergency systems on the unarmed RAF Rivet Joint plane and disable its autopilot.
The ministry said the British plane was in international airspace as part of operations to secure NATO’s eastern flank.
NATO chief praises response to drone incursions
Lithuania borders Russia-allied Belarus to the east and Russia鈥檚 Kaliningrad exclave to the west. Wednesday鈥檚 alert came after the military said it detected drone activity in Belarus, but no drones were sighted over Lithuania.
鈥淏ased on the parameters we saw, it鈥檚 most likely either a combat drone or a drone designed to deceive systems and lure targets,鈥� Vilmantas Vitkauskas, head of Lithuania鈥檚 National Crisis Management Center, said in a news briefing. It wasn’t possible to ascertain whether the drone had a warhead, he said.
Belarus reported the potential drone to Lithuania and neighboring Latvia, according to Brig. Gen. Nerijus Stankevicius, commander of the Lithuanian Army鈥檚 Land Forces.
NATO Secretary-General commended the alliance鈥檚 reaction to several drone incidents in recent days, saying Wednesday in Brussels that they had been met with 鈥渁 calm, decisive and proportionate response.鈥�
Vilnius residents sought shelter
Vilnius resident Maryia Malevich said she was terrified when the alert sounded.
鈥淚 and my colleagues, we went downstairs and waited probably for 30 minutes” before the all-clear notification came, she said. 鈥淲e were unprepared and we didn鈥檛 know what we should do. And even now, we don鈥檛 know what really happened.鈥�
Another Vilnius resident, Iuliia Dudkina, said she wasn’t scared because her friends live in Israel and frequently have to head to shelters. She said her husband had a different reaction.
鈥淗e was actually very worried and asked me to take our dog and go downstairs to the underground garage. So I did it,” Dudkina said. 鈥淭here were no people except me. So I guess no one really got very scared.鈥�
Drones crossing borders heighten tensions
In recent months, have crossed or come down in NATO territory on numerous occasions. Western officials have blamed what they say is likely Russian electronic jamming of the drones. Russia, meanwhile, has renewed threats that it would retaliate if Ukrainian drones are launched from Baltic countries or if those countries are complicit in their use against Russia.
鈥淩ussia is deliberately redirecting Ukrainian drones into Baltic airspace while waging smear campaigns鈥� against Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kestutis Budrys said late Tuesday. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a transparent act of desperation 鈥� an attempt to sow chaos and distract from a simple reality: (Ukraine) is hitting the Russian military machine hard.鈥�
Last week, following a dispute over the handling of multiple incidents involving stray drones suspected to be from Ukraine.
Russia and Ukraine hammer each other with drones
In a recent escalation of aerial attacks, Russia and Ukraine have sometimes fired hundreds of drones a day at each other.
Ukraine鈥檚 air force said Wednesday that it shot down 131 out of 154 drones that Russia launched overnight. The ones that got past air defenses killed three civilians and wounded 18 others, including two children, officials said.
Ukraine, meanwhile, continued its aerial campaign against Russia鈥檚 vital oil industry, with the General Staff reporting its drones struck a major Russian oil refinery and a pipeline pumping station overnight.
Russian media reports also indicated that a chemical plant in the southern Stavropol region was hit and caught fire, although local officials didn鈥檛 confirm any direct hit.
Russia gets some relief from oil sanctions
The U.K. government, a strong supporter of Ukraine’s war effort, loosened sanctions Wednesday on Russian oil refined into diesel and jet fuel in third countries as prices rise and fears grow about supplies due to the .
That step comes two days after U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced that Washington was granting a for countries to import Russian oil that is already in tankers at sea.
The move, designed to reduce the oil supply shortages, marked a continued policy reversal by the Trump administration, which had previously said the sanctions on Russian oil would resume. Originally announced in early March, the temporary waiver on the sanctions was first renewed in April.
___
Associated Press journalists Siarhei Satsiuk in Vilnius, Lithuania; Geir Moulson in Berlin; Lorne Cook in Brussels; Jill Lawless in London; Hanna Arhirova in Kyiv, Ukraine; Kostya Manenkov in Tallinn, Estonia, and Barry Hatton in Lisbon, Portugal contributed to this report.
___
Follow the AP鈥檚 coverage of the war in Ukraine at
Copyright © 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.
