A drone similar to a Russian Herbera crashed in Lithuania. It came from Belarus

On the afternoon of Thursday, July 10, an unknown drone that flew into Lithuania from Belarus crashed in Lithuania. This was reported to by the press service of the Lithuanian Armed Forces.

At around 11:30, the Lithuanian Air Force detected an object approaching the Lithuanian border from the Belarusian side. The alert status of the fighter jets flying the NATO air patrol mission that were in the air at the time was changed from training to mission mode.

However, after the object fell, the fighter jets' mission was canceled after a while, and the information was passed on to the State Border Guard Service. The object looked like a homemade drone and did not pose a threat, the statement said .

According to the broadcaster Delfi, citing border guards, the drone went down near the closed Shumsk checkpoint, one kilometer from the border with Belarus.

"There is no evidence that any cargo was attached to the vehicle. This object is not dangerous," the State Border Guard Service said.

According to preliminary data, the UAV was made of plywood and foam.

The media notes that the downed drone is a Russian Gerbera unmanned aerial vehicle, which Russia is using against Ukraine.

This drone is a simplified and cheaper version of the Iranian Shahed-136 kamikaze drone, known in Russia as the Geranium-2.

"The Gerbera can perform a variety of missions, including reconnaissance, surveillance, strike, and distraction of air defense assets. Due to its low cost, the drone can be used as a decoy, which complicates the work of air defense.

• Russian drones have repeatedly violated NATO airspace. In particular, on September 7, 2024, one Russian drone crashed in eastern Latvia, the country's president stressed that the number of such incidents is growing on the eastern flank, and the Allies must address them jointly.
• The next day, the "shahids" violated Romania's airspace, which caused the country to its fighters. Also, the fall of Russian UAVs on its territory was recorded by Moldova.