Lithuania and other countries in the region should create a “drone wall” and prepare for the mass production of unmanned aerial vehicles, following last week’s incident in which a Russian-made “Geran” drone entered Lithuanian airspace from Belarus, European Union Commissioner for Defence and Space Andrius Kubiļus has urged.
“This incident shows that it is possible to breach Lithuanian airspace with such drones. The question of whether Lithuania is ready to defend itself against such threats—and whether it has the necessary capabilities—remains open,” said Kubiļus, a former Prime Minister of Lithuania, in an interview with Lithuanian public television.
“Therefore, I continue to call on Lithuania and other countries in the region, which are working on the so-called Eastern Border Defence Plan—a physical security plan that mainly involves building ground barriers—to also include the creation of a drone wall, not just physical fortifications,” he said.
In May 2024, then-Minister of the Interior Agnė Bilotaitė announced that regional countries had agreed to build a drone wall using unmanned aerial vehicles for border surveillance and deploying anti-drone systems to intercept drones used for smuggling or hostile provocations by foreign states.
However, in early March this year, Lithuania and Estonia failed to secure EU funding for the project.
Kubiļus stated that
there are “few signs” that Lithuania or the Baltic states in general are adequately prepared to respond to potential Russian drone attacks.
“At this point, it’s not so much about drone stockpiling or manufacturing, but rather about how we train and build teams of people who can quickly produce drones in the quantity and at the moment they’re needed to support a drone wall,” said the European Commissioner from Lithuania.
“I believe Lithuania and the Baltic states need a joint strategy not only for physical border fortification but also for building a drone-based barrier—and to begin preparing for mass production,” he emphasized.
On Thursday, the 10th of July, Lithuanian border guards spotted a flying object. According to military information, it remained in Lithuanian airspace for approximately three minutes before crashing near the closed Šumskas border checkpoint, around one kilometer from the Belarusian border. The drone was not carrying any payload.
Initially, officials suspected that a Shahed-type combat drone—the kind Russia uses in its war of aggression against Ukraine—had violated Lithuanian airspace. However, the State Border Guard Service later announced that, based on preliminary data, officers at the Kenai border crossing recorded a flying object resembling a homemade drone that had entered from Belarus and crashed to the ground.
Following this airspace breach, Lithuanian Prime Minister Gintautas Paluckas and Seimas Speaker Saulius Skvernelis were taken to shelters. President Gitanas Nausėda was on a visit to Ireland at the time.
For comparison, on the 7th of September, 2023, a Russian Shahed-type drone entered Latvian airspace and crashed in Gaigalava Parish, Rēzekne Municipality.
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