Vilnius Airport suspended flights due to an unknown object flying from Belarus

On the morning of September 9, flights were temporarily suspended at the airport of the Lithuanian capital Vilnius due to an unknown object moving towards the country from Belarus. This was reported by the National Crisis Management Center, reports Lithuanian public broadcaster LRT.

"[The company] Air Navigation today at 08:33 a.m. transmitted information to Vilnius airport services about a flying object. The Lithuanian Army Air Force tracked an unidentified object on radar that was moving from Belarus towards Lithuania. The signal was also briefly detected by ground air defense units, but without visual contact," the Center said.

According to him, the relevant services will provide more detailed information in the near future.

The agency noted that, according to initial assessments of the services, it could have been a meteorological phenomenon, but a detailed investigation of the incident will be conducted.

In early September, Vilnius Airport also suspended air traffic because of an advertising drone. Because of this, about half an hour could not land an airplane with the president of the country Gitanas Nausėda who was returning from Finland.

The Lithuanian Ministry of Communications says it is currently considering expanding the no-fly zones for drones to prevent such incidents from happening again.

• In July, Russian Gerbera drones twice flew to Lithuania from Belarus, as well as one UAV, probably, not for military purposes.
• In late August, Lithuania closed its airspace along part of the border with Belarus against the backdrop of incidents with drones infiltration and the approaching Russian-Belarusian exercises "West-2025".