A threat alert was issued by authorities after an aircraft, initially suspected to have been a military drone, was spotted.

08:53, Sat, Jun 13, 2026 Updated: 10:02, Sat, Jun 13, 2026

Rafale fighter jets

France has four Rafale fighter jets stationed in Lithuania as part of a NATO air policing mission (Image: Getty)

NATO fighter jets were scrambled after a suspected military drone, which later turned out to be a weather balloon, entered Lithuanian airspace. An alert was sounded in the capital Vilnius in response to the incident on Saturday morning.

Residents were were warned of a "possible air threat" in alert messages sent to mobile phones by the authorities. The warning, which also urged residents to remain calm and find a safe place, was later lifted. The balloon that prompted the false alarm entered Lithuanian territory from Belarus, local reports say.

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French Rafale fighter jet

French Rafale fighter jet, like those stationed at Šiauliai Air Base in Lithuania (Image: Getty)

Lithuanian defence minister Robertas Kaunas confirmed there had been no violation of the country's airspace by a drone, but urged people to "stay vigilant".

"Thanks to the Lithuanian army and services for the prompt reaction and informing the public about a potentially dangerous object spotted flying into Lithuanian airspace," he said on social media.

"The alert has been cancelled. It was determined that it was a meteorological balloon. Let's stay vigilant."

Operations at Vilnius Airport resumed after the air raid warning was cancelled, reports say.

Vilmantas Vitkauskas, head of Lithuania's National Crisis Management Center, said only one object was being monitiored but urged residents to "remain vigilant".

He said no more incidents are expected but encouraged Lithuanians to keep their phones nearby in case further warnings are issued.

The incident is a sign of the Baltic states' heightened awareness over the threat of drones following a series of sightings in past weeks.

The drones recently seen straying into the countries are believed to have orginated from Ukraine and pushed off course by Russian electronic jamming.

The Baltics and Kyiv have both blamed the incidents on Moscow, which in turn has alleged Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia are allowing Ukraine to use their airspace to strike targets inside Russia.

The repeated sightings have stoked fears and increased political tensions along NATO's eastern flank.

The Latvian government collapsed in May following a fallout over its response to Russia-bound Ukrainian drones entering Latvian territory.

Last month also saw Lithuania's president and prime minister shelter in underground bunkers after its airspace was violated by a drone, while a NATO fighter jet shot down an uncrewed aircraft over Estonia for the first time.

Four French Rafale fighters are stationed at Šiauliai Air Base, northern Lithuania, as part of NATO's Baltic Air Policing mission.

The alliance has been contacted for comment.