Sawt Falasteen - Lithuanians briefly head to bunkers over drone alert

Such alerts have become increasingly common in recent months in the Baltic states as Ukraine steps up strikes against Russian targets in the Saint Petersburg region, close to Estonia and Finland.

But Wednesday's alarm was the first in an EU and NATO member country since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in 2022 to trigger an order for the population -- including the president, prime minister and MPs -- to take shelter.

Political leaders were ushered into bunkers following a drone alert last year, but not the general population.

Lithuania's allies rallied around the country on Wednesday, with EU chief Ursula von der Leyen saying Russia and Belarus bore "direct responsibility" for any drone incidents on the bloc's eastern flank.

NATO chief Mark Rutte added that even if the drones crash-landing in Baltic countries were launched by Ukraine, it was not the country's fault.

"(The drones) are there because of the reckless, illegal, full-scale attack of Russia," he said.

The alert came at around 10:20 am local time (0720 GMT) on mobile phones: "Air raid alert! Go immediately to a shelter or a safe place, take care of your family members and wait for further instructions."

Immediately, in offices and apartment buildings, civilians went down into basements or designated shelters, according to an AFP correspondent.

"I got dressed and went down to the basement," photographer Andrej Vasilenko, who was in his apartment when the alert sounded, told AFP.

"I was alone, no other residents of the building were there.

"My child was at school and had gone down into a shelter, so I felt reassured. It was strange, but at the same time so many people in Ukraine have been living with this for four years."

- Latvia fallout -

President Gitanas Nauseda and Prime Minister Inga Ruginiene, as well as lawmakers, were taken to shelters, their offices told the BNS news agency.

Flights at Vilnius International Airport were suspended, while trains were brought to a halt.

The army said a radar signal had been detected in Belarusian airspace "with characteristics typical of an unmanned aerial vehicle".

"The NATO air-policing mission was activated," the military added.

Vilmantas Vitkauskas, the head of the National Crisis Management Centre, told public radio LRT that a drone had been spotted "in the Vilnius district", without elaborating on its fate.

The alert, which also applied to Lithuanian regions bordering Belarus, was lifted at around 11:00 am and people were told they could leave the shelters.

The government had been criticised after earlier drone sightings and incursions from Belarus for failing to issue alerts.

Several Russian or Ukrainian drones have crashed in Lithuania, as well as in Estonia and Latvia, though they have not caused serious damage or casualties.

Latvia's prime minister Evika Silina, however, lost her job in a political row over drones crash-landing in her country.

W.Mansour--SF-PST