Italian NATO jets scrambled after drone enters Lithuanian airspace, damages car

Two Italian Eurofighter jets operating under NATO command were scrambled Sunday after a drone was detected in Lithuanian airspace, with debris later damaging a moving civilian vehicle in the country's north.

"We can confirm that this morning, two Italian Eurofighter jets were scrambled in response to the presence of a drone in Lithuanian airspace. The aircraft were operating under NATO command," a NATO official said, according to Italian news agency ANSA.

The official said an investigation was underway and the alliance remained in close contact with Lithuanian authorities.

"NATO is ready and able to respond to any potential threat, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to safeguard our territory and protect our population," the official said.

Lithuanian Defense Minister Robertas Kaunas said preliminary information indicated that the object entered the country from Poland, public broadcaster LRT reported.

"I have already contacted the Polish defence minister and asked Poland to join the investigation so that we can look into this incident together," he told reporters.

Authorities confirmed that debris damaged a car traveling from Birzai toward Pasvalys, but no one was injured.

Prime Minister Mindaugas Sinkevicius said the driver heard an explosion before debris struck the vehicle, denting its door. Police cordoned off the area and were gathering evidence.

Vilmantas Vitkauskas, head of Lithuania's National Crisis Management Center, told LRT Radio that the object was most likely a Ukrainian drone that could have entered the country during Kyiv's strikes on Russia's St Petersburg region.

Kaunas said poor weather prevented the scrambled pilots from visually identifying the object.

He also questioned why an air alert was issued only in northern Lithuania, describing the situation as "strange and unacceptable."

The military was instructed to provide a detailed report, while authorities would examine whether public warnings were delayed.

Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda said Russia's war against Ukraine "is spilling over onto the Eastern flank of NATO and EU."

"What appears to be a drone exploded over the northern part of the country, posing a danger to the civilian population," he wrote on US social media company X.