Drone that crashed in Lithuania came from Ukraine, PM says


FILE PHOTO: Lithuanian Prime Minister Inga Ruginiene looks on during a press conference with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, in Berlin, Germany, January 29, 2026. REUTERS/Liesa Johannssen/File Photo

VILNIUS, March 24 (Reuters) - ⁠A military drone that crashed in Lithuania ⁠came from Ukraine and was aimed at ‌attacking Russia's oil exports before going astray, the Baltic country's government said on Tuesday.

Lithuania's armed forces said on ​Monday 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.

It was part of a Ukrainian attack on ⁠the Primorsk oil loading terminal, one of ​two major ‌export facilities on Russia's Baltic Sea coast ⁠that were ​hit around the same time, the Lithuanian government said.

"This is not a local incident, this is ⁠a part of wider security ​picture. Russian aggression against Ukraine creates additional risks for the whole region,"Prime Minister Inga Ruginiene told ⁠a press conference on Tuesday.

NATO alliance member Lithuania is a staunch supporter of Ukraine in the war with Russia.

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, editing by Terje Solsvik)

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