Baltics, Finland issue overnight drone warnings as Russia, Ukraine exchange strikes

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NATO fighter jets were activated overnight, though there were no reports of injuries, while Lithuania's officials said a warning covered the second most populous city of Kaunas ...

VILNIUS — The Baltic nations of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia on Wednesday issued a flurry of overnight alerts, which were withdrawn hours later, urging citizens to seek shelter against threats from unidentified drones entering from neighbors Russia or Belarus.

Ukrainian military drones straying into the airspace of Finland and the Baltics have fueled concern that the Ukraine war is spilling into NATO countries that border Russia and its ally Belarus.

NATO fighter jets were activated overnight, the alerts said, though there were no reports of injuries, while Lithuania's crisis officials said one of the warnings covered the second most populous city of Kaunas, home to about 300,000 people.

Lithuania's Prime Minister Mindaugas Sinkevicius said four drones had been detected across the region on what had been "a difficult night."

An attempt was made to shoot down a drone over northern Lithuania, and debris from a NATO missile was later found on the ground, Sinkevicius wrote on Facebook. It was not immediately clear if the drone was hit.

Finland, another Russian neighbor, adopted temporary airspace and maritime curbs in the eastern Gulf of Finland on Wednesday, its defense forces said on X, but also withdrew them later.

"The restrictions were a precautionary measure to ensure the authorities' ability to operate and the safety of bystanders," they added.

The step came as Ukrainian drones attacked Russia's northwest, home to major Baltic Sea export facilities and a big oil refinery, setting afire the Ust-Luga port area and injuring three.

Drone debris killed two in Russia's Smolensk region bordering Belarus, Russian newswires cited the local governor as saying.

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