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Lithuania urges NATO to shoot down Russian drones over Baltic states

Lithuania’s Defense Minister calls for changes to NATO’s air policing mission in the Baltic states after the recent Russian drone crash in Latvia. Proposal includes faster decision-making process and immediate action to intercept and destroy drones entering NATO airspace from Belarus.
byYuri Zoria
12/09/2024
2 minute read
lithuania urges nato shoot down russian drones over baltic states lithuanian defence minister laurynas kasčiūnas
Lithuanian Defence Minister Laurynas Kasčiūnas. Photo: Lithuania’s Defense Ministry
Lithuania urges NATO to shoot down Russian drones over Baltic states

Lithuanian Defense Minister Laurynas Kasčiūnas has called for changes to NATO’s air policing mission in the Baltic states following the crash of a Russian military drone in Latvia. He urged NATO to revise its protocols for quicker response times and immediate action against potential threats, LRT reports.

Russia continues its deliberate daily air attacks on residential areas in attempts to terrorize civilians and damage civilian infrastructure. The Russian forces launch dozens of Shahed long-range “kamikaze” drones every night, often also launching several missiles during the attack. Sometimes, some of these pre-programmed drones cross Ukraine and enter the neighboring countries. Previously, some drones crashed in Romania and Moldova.
In recent weeks, such provocations became more frequent, with drones crashing in Romania, possibly Poland, and, on several occasions, crossing into Belarus, Russia’s ally. Belarus usually intercepts the Shaheds in its airspace, but one of such drones recently crossed Belarus and crashed in Latvia.

Speaking to reporters on 11 September 2024, Kasčiūnas stated,

“The air policing must not only patrol but also, if necessary, if possible, if time permits, shorten the decision-making chain at the NATO level so that they can take off immediately and destroy the drones.”

He emphasized the need for swift information sharing with NATO headquarters when radars detect a drone potentially entering NATO territory.

The minister explained that the current process involves NATO assessing the situation to determine if there is sufficient evidence of a hostile drone before deploying air police jets.

“This is a certain algorithm, and it needs to be accelerated,” Kasčiūnas said.

Lithuania is also calling on NATO to strengthen the Baltic states’ air defense by adopting a rotational air defense model. Latvia’s defense chief Leonīds Kalniņš Kasčiūnas noted that the current air policing mission is designed primarily to monitor airspace and escort foreign aircraft that have violated airspace out of that airspace.

NATO’s Air Policing mission in the Baltic states is currently being carried out from Lithuania and temporarily from Latvia, while the Estonian airbase undergoes repairs.

Shahed drone crash in Latvia

The call for changes comes after Latvia’s Defense Ministry reported on 7 September that debris from a Russian suicide drone flying from Belarus had been found in the country’s eastern region of Rēzekne. Leonīds Kalniņš told the LETA news agency that the drone entered Latvian airspace in the early hours of 7 September and was immediately spotted.

On 9 September, it was confirmed that the Russian unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that flew from Belarus and crashed was a Shahed kamikaze drone. The Latvian military stated that the drone’s appearance in Latvia should not be viewed as an open military escalation against the country and that Latvia was not its intended target.

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