Lithuania's president and prime minister were forced to take shelter on Tuesday, when a drone alert caused the capital Vilnius to come to a standstill.
President Gitanas Nauseda and Prime Minister Inga Ruginiene were taken to emergency shelters following the air alert, which ordered the city's population to take cover.
Flights were suspended and road and rail travel briefly ground to a halt. The alert has since been lifted, but it is not yet clear who was behind the incursion.
This incident followed a day after Estonia reported that NATO shot down a drone on its territory, suspected to be a Ukrainian projectile hindered by Russian electronic interference.
It was the latest in a series of recent drone incursions over NATO members Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.
An alert from Lithuania's defense ministry instructed citizens: Immediately take shelter in a safe place, take care of your close ones, await new recommendations.
The alert was triggered as officials reported a drone from neighboring Belarus approaching Lithuania's airspace.
The drone's origins were not confirmed, but Lithuania's military stated that NATO jets were deployed to intercept the drone but could not locate it.
Furthermore, an evacuation order was enacted at the Seimas, Lithuania's parliament, where politicians and staff were guided to a basement shelter.
On the same day, Estonian officials noted that a NATO fighter jet had shot down a suspected Ukrainian drone with no reported damage.
Ukraine has accused Moscow of deliberately redirecting Ukrainian drones aimed at military targets in Russia, apologizing to Baltic states for the unintended incidents.
Political crises have escalated in Latvia similarly, with Prime Minister Evika Silina resigning following controversies over Russian-bound Ukrainian drones straying into Latvian territory.
This moment underscores how drone and missile incidents have intensified recently against targets in Russia, including crucial energy facilities in proximity to the Baltic states.
Amid these tensions, Russia has accused the three Baltic states of facilitating Ukrainian operations against its territory, claims firmly denied by Tallinn, Riga, and Vilnius.
As the situation develops, monitoring remains critical given the increased military engagements around and over the borders of these nations.
