NATO fighter jets twice attempted to shoot down a drone that entered Lithuanian airspace from Belarus overnight but failed to destroy it.

Axar.az reports, citing Lithuanian public broadcaster LRT, that Lithuanian Defence Staff Chief Rear Admiral Giedrius Premeneckas said the drone was first identified near Kaunas. However, the decision was made not to engage it there because it was flying over a populated area and shooting it down could endanger civilians.

The fighter jets later attempted to destroy the drone near Birzai, but both attempts were unsuccessful. One missile missed its target, self-destructed and fell to the ground. Its debris was subsequently found in the Birzai district.

Premeneckas said the drone then entered Latvian airspace, continued towards Estonia and eventually reached Russian territory. Its type and whether it was carrying explosives remain unknown.

He suggested it may have been a Ukrainian drone that had gone off course during a large-scale attack on Russia.

Meanwhile, Lithuania's National Crisis Management Centre chief Vilmantas Vitkauskas described the night as “probably the most restless in our entire history”, citing two drone incidents and the detection of around 10 meteorological balloons that disrupted airport operations.

The incidents affected three flights, forcing around 470 passengers to change their plans.