Lithuania closes major airport and scrambles NATO jets after drone alert after Russians targeted German runway
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A Lithuanian airport has been closed following a drone alert.
NATO Baltic Air Policing jets were scrambled to Vilnius Airport earlier this morning in response to the alert.
It is understood the suspected drone was flying between Lithuania and Belarus.
The incident comes after Ukrainian planes were targeted with a remotely-controlled flying bomb on a German runaway in a suspected Russian attack.
A drone packed with Semtex slammed into the wing of a stationary Ukrainian cargo plane at Leipzig/Halle Airport late on August 4 but failed to detonate.
The drone was discovered close to the giant Antonov An-124, which was being used to fly military supplies into Ukraine, by a bus driver, who pinned it under his foot and alerted airport security.
Last month, Germany announced that Russia was responsible for the attack.
German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said the Leipzig airport attack followed the 'well-established pattern of Russian hybrid operations in Europe' and the assumption was that Germany would be targeted again.
Vilnius airport in Lithuania was closed this morning following a suspected drone sighting (file image)
Investigators also reportedly found DNA on the drone matching a sample recovered after a suspected Russian sabotage attack at the same airport two years ago.
In that incident, an incendiary device hidden in a DHL parcel caught fire at the Leipzig hub in July 2024.
The package had been due to travel on a cargo plane but the flight was delayed, narrowly avoiding the possibility of the device igniting in mid-air.
Vilnius airport reopened earlier on Saturday after it was closed for less than an hour.
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