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Lithuania says a suspected drone enters its airspace, crashes into lake near Belarus

By Thomson Reuters Mar 23, 2026 | 12:42 PM

VILNIUS, March 23 (Reuters) – Lithuania’s army said on Monday that a suspected drone had entered the ​country’s airspace and crashed into ‌an ice-covered lake some 20 km (12 miles) from the border of Belarus.

Debris found around a hole in the ice ‌was ​believed to be from ⁠a drone, an ⁠army spokesperson said.

Night-time security camera footage published by Lithuania’s public broadcaster LRT included about 40 seconds of ​buzzing sound followed by a loud blast, with what appeared ⁠to be pieces of ⁠flaming debris seen flying ​upwards.

“We are very close to Belarus… The ​most likely assumption is it came ‌from this country”, army spokesperson Gintautas Ciunis said.

No explosives had been found at the lake, he ⁠said.

Prime Minister Inga Ruginiene has called a National Security Commision consultation for Tuesday to ⁠discuss ‌the incident.

Lithuania last year asked ⁠NATO for more air ​defences ‌after military drones from Belarus ​landed on ⁠its territory twice in July 2025.

Lithuanian intelligence said earlier this month that both drones had entered Lithuania accidentally.

(Reporting by Andrius Sytas, editig by ​Terje Solsvik)