NATO fighter jet shoots down mystery drone over Lithuania near Belarus border
September 16, 2026
NATO fighter jets shot down a drone that entered Lithuanian airspace overnight, officials said Tuesday, less than a day after NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said that strikes close to the alliance’s territory would drive the trans-Atlantic organization to increase its support for Kyiv.
The drone was downed near the village of Pratkūnai in the Kaišiadorys district, about 60 miles west of the country’s capital, Vilnius, and near the Kaunas Reservoir, Lithuania’s National Crisis Management Center said Tuesday. Lithuania’s military said that the incident marked the first time that a drone had been shot down in the country’s airspace.