Poland is seeking Ukraine’s help to investigate a drone explosion in Lithuania, where officials suspect it crossed from Poland; a Polish defense ministry spokesperson said radar has not confirmed that route.
The Polish Ministry of National Defence identified the drone as Ukrainian on Oct. 19 and said Ukraine had apologized to Lithuania. The ministry ordered a detailed analysis of events during the night of Oct. 17-18, drawing on available radar systems in Poland and neighboring countries. It said official results were pending and that Lithuania was involved in the work.
The Polish military told ELTA that the Operational Command had requested additional information from Ukraine. ELTA reported that the military gave no expected date for completing its inquiry.
Lithuanian Armed Forces suspect the drone entered Lithuania from Poland, ELTA reported. Polskie Radio reported that Tusk said the available information pointed to the Polish side. A Polish Ministry of National Defence spokesperson told Reuters that Polish radar had not confirmed a crossing into Lithuania.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Oct. 20 that Poland was working with Lithuania to establish what happened and expected Ukraine’s cooperation. He also said Poland does not permit operations on or over its territory without the Polish state’s explicit consent.
ELTA reported that debris damaged a moving car, but no one was injured. The wreckage was found near Juodžionys in Lithuania’s Pasvalys district, and the episode was covered in EconoTimes’ earlier report on the drone explosion.
Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) spokesperson Heorhii Tykhyi apologized and cited Russian electronic warfare as a possible reason the drone veered off course during a Ukrainian operation against military targets in Russia. That explanation has not been confirmed. Reuters has reported that Ukrainian drones entered NATO airspace in the Baltic region several times in recent months; Kyiv has attributed some diversions to Russian jamming.
