Minsk, May 21 (IANS) Belarus summoned Lithuania’s Charge d’Affaires Erikas Vilkanecas to the Foreign Ministry on Thursday after a Ukrainian military drone launched from Lithuanian territory violated Belarusian airspace.
During a meeting with Vilkanecas, Belarusian officials condemned repeated border violations, saying a “Chaika” drone, initially targeting Russian sites, was detected in the country’s north near Stanislavtsy in the Vitebsk region on Sunday, Belarusian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Ruslan Varankov said.
Despite its origin in Lithuania, no preventive measures or advance notifications were taken, in contrast to Belarus’ own practices, said Varankov, noting such actions pose a direct security risk to the country and violate international legal norms, Xinhua news agency reported.
According to Varankov, Minsk demanded that Lithuania conduct an official investigation into the incident and take measures to prevent future violations of Belarusian airspace and border security.
Meanwhile, the Latvian armed forces said at least one foreign drone entered the country’s airspace on Thursday, the latest in a series of drone incursions reported across the Baltic States in recent months.
Authorities issued air alerts in several eastern Latvian regions, while NATO fighter jets participating in the Baltic Air Policing mission were scrambled in response. The alert was lifted later in the day.
The incident came days after Estonia said a NATO fighter jet had shot down a drone over its territory, while Lithuania reported that a military drone carrying explosives had crashed after entering its airspace. On May 7, two drones crashed into an oil storage facility in Latvia’s Rezekne.
Baltic authorities believe many of the drones are Ukrainian aircraft intended for strikes on Russian targets that veered off course into neighbouring countries’ airspace.
Baltic authorities believe many of the drones are Ukrainian aircraft intended for strikes on Russian targets, but veered off course into the airspace of neighbouring countries.
So far, no casualties have been reported in the incidents. However, the crash of two drones in Rezekne triggered political fallout, leading to the dismissal of the country’s defence minister and the subsequent resignation of Prime Minister Evika Silina’s government.
–IANS
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