NATO fighter jets made two unsuccessful attempts to shoot down a drone that entered Lithuanian airspace from Belarus overnight on November 10 to 11, 2026, as air-threat alerts spread across Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. Debris from a missile launched by one of the fighters was later found near Biržai, in northern Lithuania.
Lithuanian Defense Staff Chief Rear Admiral Giedrius Premeneckas said the fighters identified the drone near Kaunas but could not engage it there because of the risk to civilians. The jets subsequently made two attempts to destroy the drone, but both failed. One missile missed its target, with debris later recovered near Biržai, according to Lithuanian public broadcaster LRT.
Prime Minister Mindaugas Sinkevičius said the night’s events would be examined in detail. Officials have not identified the aircraft type or the NATO country involved.
NATO’s Baltic Air Defence mission is currently led by four Italian Eurofighter Typhoons stationed at Šiauliai, reinforced by six Belgian F-16s. Five Turkish F-16s are also deployed at Ämari Air Base in Estonia.
Drone crosses NATO airspace from Belarus
Citing the National Crisis Management Center (NKVC), Sinkevičius said four drones had been detected in the region, along with dozens of balloon sightings. Only one drone entered Lithuanian airspace.
NKVC head Vilmantas Vitkauskas said the drone entered from Belarus near Druskininkai, may have briefly crossed into Polish airspace, then flew north, crossing Lithuania before entering Latvia.
Lithuania’s LT72 emergency-alert system issued successive warnings from late November 10, 2026. Red alerts were declared between 00:38 and 02:02 on November 11, 2026, for areas including Kaunas, Panevėžys and Biržai. All alerts were lifted by 02:49.
Earlier, at around 21:30, the NKVC had warned of possible balloons, prompting the closure of Vilnius (VNO) and Kaunas (KUN) airports.
Air-threat warnings spread across three Baltic states
After 03:00, Latvia issued air-threat warnings, with Latvian forces saying drone interceptors, air-defense units and NATO air-policing jets had been activated.
At around 03:15, the Estonian Defense Forces issued potential air-threat alerts for six southern counties at approximately 03:30. A military spokesperson confirmed to public broadcaster ERR that NATO fighters had been scrambled.
Finland also temporarily restricted air and maritime traffic in the eastern Gulf of Finland as a precaution.
Alerts coincide with Ukrainian drone strikes on Russia
The alerts came during Ukrainian drone attacks on northwestern Russia, including the Baltic Sea port of Ust-Luga, approximately 36 kilometers (22 miles) from Estonia.
Leningrad Oblast Governor Aleksandr Drozdenko said the attack caused a fire in the port area and injured three workers.
Officials have not established whether the drones detected near or over NATO territory were linked to those strikes.
On May 19, 2026, a Romanian F-16 flying a Baltic Air Policing mission shot down a suspected Ukrainian drone over Estonia. Estonian officials said the incident occurred amid heavy Russian electronic warfare, including GPS spoofing and jamming.