Nato jet scrambled over ‘drone sighting’ as emergency phone alert issued and airport closed in Lithuania

A NATO jet was scrambled after a flock of birds believed to be a drone was sighted over Vilnius airport. The sighting sparked an immediate shutdown of Lithuania‘s primary travel hub and at least one fighter jet was dispatched in response. Nato deployed a fighter jet after a suspected drone was sighted in Lithuanian airport Credit: AP Vilnius Airport was closed for 38 minutes Credit: Getty After 38 minutes, the alert was lifted and the airport reopened after the jet got a closer look at the “threat”. Lithuania’s National Crisis Management Centre said: “On initial radar readings, marks left by birds and drones can be similar.” Sign up for The Sun newsletter Thank you! The jet was summoned from Siauliai in northern Lithuania. The base is currently being used by the Italian air force as part of the Nato Baltic Air Defence mission. Military drones have strayed into Finland, Romania, Estonia and Lithuania, stoking fear that the Ukraine war is spilling into Nato territory. Russia has been accused of ramping up hybrid attacks on European nations it believes to be helping Kyiv. Dozens of mysterious drones have been spotted in recent months as Putin’s urge to sow chaos among Nato nations continues. The alliance scrambled fighter jets over Estonia after several drones were spotted in the Baltic nation’s airspace earlier this month. Most read in The Sun Vladimir Putin has been ramping up Russia’s hybrid war against the West Credit: AP A Russian drone today hit a train just one mile from the Polish border The terrifying drone warning was issued in eight Estonian counties – as Turkish Nato planes were deployed to the scene. Another alert was activated in Latvia along its border with Russia amid the chaos. Colonel Uku Arold, Estonian Defence Forces’ spokesman, said: “There have been drones moving parallel to the eastern borders of both Estonia and Latvia. “They entered Estonia which is why we activated the alarm.” Over this weekend, a giant ammunition storage site burst into flames in Bulgaria, with Russia the prime suspect in the attack. Secondary explosions were reported as flames were “moving from warehouse to warehouse,” said Gabrovo regional governor Kristina Sidorova. Opposition MP Ivaylo Mirchev, co-leader of the pro-Western Yes, Bulgaria! party, linked the fire directly to Russia’s alleged hybrid sabotage campaign across Europe. He said: “A few days ago we warned parliament that what Russia is doing in Leipzig is also happening in Bulgaria,” referring to a bomb-laden drone found at a German airport, which has been linked to Putin’s spooks. It came as Putin – who once claimed he had no aggressive intentions against Ukraine – said he had no plan to invade or threaten existing Nato states in Europe. He claimed: “There is no such threat, and there has never been. “We are not threatening European countries, nor are we going to threaten them. Why would we? “No one seems to even consider that we have no grounds for any conflict with Europe.” Lithuania, where today’s false alarm was raised, has been in the sights of Putin’s cronies. Kremlin firebrand Dmitry Medvedev threatened to reduce the Nato member and former Soviet state to “scorched earth” and wipe it “off the map”. His warning came after the Baltic state said it was negotiating with Washington over the possible deployment of US nuclear weapons in the country. It comes as Putin has now increased the number of nuclear warheads deployed to a nine-year high, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). Comment now