Baltic nations, Finland issue overnight drone warnings as Russia, Ukraine exchange strikes

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By Andrius Sytas and Jekaterina GolubkovaVILNIUS, Nov 11 (Reuters) - NATO scrambled jets overnight after at least four drones strayed into the airspace of the Baltic states during Ukrainian strikes on Russia, officials said on Wednesday, triggering brief alerts to citizens of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia to seek shelter.Ukrainian military drones straying into the airspace of Finland and the Baltics this year have…

VILNIUS, Nov 11 (Reuters) - NATO scrambled jets overnight after at least four drones strayed into the airspace of the Baltic states during Ukrainian strikes on Russia, officials said on Wednesday, triggering brief alerts to citizens of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia to seek shelter.

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

There were no reports of injuries on what Lithuania's Prime Minister Mindaugas Sinkevicius called "a difficult night". One of the warnings covered Kaunas, Lithuania's second-most populous city, home to about 300,000 people.

The incidents occurred on a night that Ukrainian dronesattacked 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 people.

Moscow has accused Kyiv of using NATO airspace as cover for attacks, while Kyiv says Russian signal jamming sometimes sends some of its drones off course. The NATO nations generally blame Russia for such incidents, for igniting the war by invading its neighbour in 2022.

Two attempts were made to shoot down a drone over Lithuania but both failed, and it later crossed into neighbouring Latvia's airspace, Lithuanian armed forces Chief of Defence Staff Giedrius Premeneckas told a news conference.

"We can only assume some of the drones involved in the attack against Russia were diverted by electronic warfare measures, but there is no confirmed information as to whether the drone was Ukrainian or Russian," Premeneckas said.

Finland, another Russian neighbour, adopted temporary airspace and maritime curbs in the eastern Gulf of Finland on Wednesday, its defence 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.

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