Lithuania declines comment on Ukraine claim Russia diverted drones to Baltics

VILNIUS - Lithuanian Prime Minister Inga Ruginiene and Defence Minister Robertas Kaunas declined to comment on Ukrainian allegations that Russia deliberately diverted drones toward the Baltic states and Finland to raise regional tensions.

"You should ask Ukraine about this; I will not comment on intelligence data (...) neither ours nor Ukraine's. These are public interpretations, but as I said, I will not comment on intelligence," Kaunas told on Wednesday.

Last week, several drones flew over and exploded in the Baltic states. Officials suspect these were Ukrainian drones aimed at targets in Russia that had veered off course. On Sunday, Finland reported that two stray drones crashed in the southeast of the country, one of which was confirmed to be Ukrainian.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said on Tuesday he had confirmation that these incidents were deliberate and targeted Russian actions. According to Sybiha, Moscow may be attempting to create friction between Ukraine and its European allies.

On Monday, the President’s Office said Kyiv had expressed regret over the incidents. The Baltic states have emphasised that such occurrences are a direct consequence of Russia’s full-scale war of aggression.

Later on Wednesday, Ruginiene reiterated that a recent drone entry into Lithuania was a Ukrainian aircraft and emphasised that it was an unintentional incident.

"War is much closer than we can imagine, and therefore such incidents can occur," Ruginiene said.

"Let us stop listening to various rumours. Let us listen to what the services are saying, and our services have spoken very clearly about that incident. A drone crashed during an unintentional incident, and this information is factual," she added.