Lithuania ends search for suspected drone after Vilnius airport closure

Lithuanian authorities called off their search for a suspected drone that triggered a yellow air alert over Vilnius district and the Ukmergė area on Saturday morning, after NATO fighter jets scrambled to investigate found no object, the National Crisis Management Centre (NKVC) said.

Radar picked up a track that entered Lithuanian airspace from Belarus and disappeared over Vilnius district, NKVC director Vilmantas Vitkauskas told a news conference. The alert, declared at about 09:50 local time, was lifted roughly 40 minutes later, though the search for the object continued into the early afternoon before being called off, with the object never found.

"We cannot say for certain this was a drone, because the initial parameters did not fully match those typical of a drone," Vitkauskas said, adding that it could have been a flock of birds. Fighter jets scrambled from Šiauliai air base detected nothing in the area, Lithuania's armed forces said.

Residents reported sightings of objects over a wide area stretching from Marijampolė to Molėtai, though most of these reports were not confirmed, Vitkauskas said. One Vilnius resident sent in footage of a sound recorded on Vėluvos Street that, they said, did not match a moped or motorcycle.

The alert disrupted 12 flights at Vilnius airport, Lithuanian Airports said. One flight was diverted to Kaunas, with its passengers bussed onward to Vilnius; a flight to Warsaw and two to Copenhagen were cancelled; and eight further flights were delayed.

Residents in the affected area received warning messages telling them to seek shelter if necessary. Authorities later issued an all-clear, confirming there was no air threat.