NATO fighter jets shot down a drone over Lithuania, the Baltic state's president said Tuesday, in the latest security incident on the alliance's eastern flank during Russia's war with Ukraine.
Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia – NATO members sharing a long border with Russia – have regularly reported drone incursions since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
In a separate incident, Denmark said a Russian warship fired two emergency flares at a Danish helicopter in the Baltic Sea late on Monday, adding that the Russian ambassador had been summoned for clarification.
Belarus' authoritarian leader meets US envoy to push for lifting sanctions
Belarus’ authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko met with a US envoy on Tuesday to push for the lifting of the remaining US sanctions against his country.
Speaking at a meeting with John Coale, the US special envoy for Belarus, Lukashenko said that “we have reached quite a few agreements related to our economic ties.” He urged Washington to help unblock some Belarusian assets he said were “stuck in Citibank.”
Since US President Donald Trump returned to the White House, Lukashenko has released hundreds of political prisoners in a series of US-mediated deals that also lifted some US sanctions.
EU chief slams 'reckless' Russia after drone, flare incidents
EU chief Ursula von der Leyen on Tuesday decried Russia's "reckless and dangerous behaviour" after a Denmark said a Russian frigate fired flares at a helicopter and NATO shot down a drone over Lithuania.
"Once again, Europe woke up to reckless and dangerous Russian behaviour," von der Leyen wrote online, calling the incidents "part of a broader pattern of Russian aggression and provocation against Europe".
Drone downed by NATO jet in Lithuania 'most probably' from Russia, Italian defence minister says
A drone that was shot down by an Italian NATO fighter jet in Lithuania after midnight on Tuesday morning "most probably" came from Russia, Italian Defence Minister Guido Crosetto said later on Tuesday.
Fast and fearless: Baltic defence startups innovate to counter Russian threat
Russian Tu-95 bombers overflew Barents and Norwegian seas, RIA reports
Tu-95 strategic bombers carried out patrol flights over neutral waters of the Barents Sea and the Norwegian Sea, Russian news agencies have said, citing the defence ministry.
Foreign fighter jets escorted the Russian bombers during parts of the flights, the ministry said.
Russia has hit more than 500 locomotives since war began, Ukraine says
Russian attacks have damaged or destroyed more than 500 locomotives since the start of the war, Ukraine's foreign minister has said in a post on X.
"We call on all our partners to urgently assist us in finding locomotives compatible with the 1,520 mm gauge as well as in financing to accelerate the procurement of new ones," Andrii Sybiha said.
More than half of the locomotives that had been hit came under attacks this year alone, he added.
Russian envoy says Danish helicopter was at fault in frigate incident
Vladimir Barbin, the Russian ambassador to Denmark, has argued that the Danish helicopter was at fault in the incident that saw a Russian frigate fire flates at the chopper in the Baltic Sea.
"The Danish side's attempts to explain the helicopter's provocative actions against the Russian frigate as 'routine practice' give rise to serious concern about the possible consequences of such recklessness," Barbin said in written statement to AFP.
"The Russian side will thoroughly investigate all the circumstances of the incident," Barbin said while adding that "this is not the first time that Danish Air Force helicopters have carried out dangerous manoeuvres near Russian warships, when they were at sea and outside Denmark's territorial waters."
Turkey says Ukraine-Russia war spreading to Black Sea is unacceptable
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Tuesday that the spread of the Ukraine-Russia war to the Black Sea and threatening the safety of Turkish citizens was unacceptable, adding that attacks invessels in the region were harming navigational safety.
Speaking at a press conference alongside his counterpart in Baku, Fidan said Turkey had intensified its efforts to find a solution to the war through an agreement, without elaborating.
Russia welcomes Trump's 'good idea' for Ukraine energy truce
The Kremlin has welcomed what it describes as US President Donald Trump's "good idea" for a truce between Russia and Ukraine on striking energy infrastructure.
"We have seen President Trump's post. We consider it a good idea, a good initiative. We are in contact with the Americans," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
Trump on Monday said the warring sides had agreed to a truce, despite neither Kyiv nor Moscow having said a deal had been struck.
Russia will not pause fighting for any Ukraine talks, Lavrov warns
Russia will not stop fighting in Ukraine while any potential talks take place, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has warned, dismissing Ukrainian demands that a ceasefire be the starting point for talks.
Lavrov plans to meet US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, state news agency RIA Novosti reported.
Ukraine lawmakers back removal of prosecutor general amid standoff with anti-graft agencies
Ukrainian lawmakers have approved the removal of Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko, a day after a standoff with independent anti-corruption agencies.
The vote was supported by 317 lawmakers, with 226 needed for a majority.
Ukraine launches offensive push in north of Donetsk region, commander says
Ukrainian forces have launched an offensive operation in the north of the eastern Donetsk region, the focal point of intense battles during more than four years of the war, a senior military commander has said.
The third army corps cleared an area of 75 square kilometres (29 square miles) of Russian infiltration groups and recaptured a further 10 sq km, claimed Brigadier-General Andrii Biletskyi.
Biletskyi said that the area was in the north of the key strongholds in the region — the so-called "fortress belt" of cities Sloviansk and Kramatorsk, the capture of which would bring Russia closer to its goal of seizing the entire region.
The claimed advance could not be independently verified.
Ukraine hit oil refinery in Russia's Syzran, says Zelensky
Ukraine struck an oil refinery in the Russian city of Syzran, President Volodymyr Zelensky has said in a post on X.
Zelensky also reported a strike on a drone production facility in the Russian city of Taganrog, and on a drone preparation and launch site in the Oryol region.
Unnamed targets were also hit in the Black Sea, he said.
Russian drone attack knocks out power in parts of Zaporizhzhia
A Russian drone attack killed one person and knocked out power in parts of the city of Zaporizhzhia in southeast Ukraine, the acting regional governor has said.
Acting Governor Mykhailo Semikin had said earlier that an infrastructure facility was damaged in the attack
Drone shot down over Lithuania was downed by Italian jet
The drone that entered Lithuanian airspace overnight was shot shortly after midnight by an Italian fighter jet, the Lithuanian national crisis management centre said.
The drone, which was likely to have entered from Belarus, was shot down near Pratkunai village in southern Lithuania, near Kaunas, the second-largest city, the centre's spokesperson said.
Its origin has yet to be determined. Officials did not say whether the drone was believed to be Ukrainian or Russian.
In recent months, Ukrainian drones have repeatedly entered NATO air space in the Baltic region. Kyiv says they were steered off course by Russian signal jamming.
Danish PM slams 'reckless action' of Russian frigate firing flares
Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has condemned Moscow's "reckless action" after a Russian frigate fired flares at a Danish military helicopter in the Baltic Sea.
"Reckless action from Russia towards Danish military during a routine overflight yesterday. Russian actions are meant to intimidate and divide. They will not succeed. We will not waver," Frederiksen said in a statement on X.
Denmark says Russian frigate shot flares at helicopter
A Russian warship has fired two emergency flares at a helicopter in the Baltic Sea, with the Russian ambassador summoned over the incident, Danish officials have said.
"One of the air force's Fennec helicopters was today fired at with flares during a routine photographic operation of a Russian frigate, which was located in international waters off Gedser," the armed forces said in a statement late Monday.
The frigate had fired "two flares towards the helicopter. One of the flares passed at close range to the helicopter."
Danish foreign minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said the incident was "completely unacceptable", adding that the Russian ambassador had been summoned.
Drone shot down by NATO over Lithuania
NATO fighter jets shot down a drone over Lithuania, the Baltic state's president said Tuesday, in the latest security incident on the alliance's eastern flank during Russia's war with Ukraine.
Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia – NATO members sharing a long border with Russia – regularly report drone incursions since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
"A drone that just entered Lithuanian airspace was destroyed by NATO fighter jets," Gitanas Nauseda wrote in a post on X.
"With Russia intensifying its aggression against Ukraine, such readiness is vital for our region," he added.
Welcome to our liveblog
NATO scrambled fighter jets overnight to shoot down a drone over Lithuania after the latest incursion on the alliance's eastern flank.
Military drones straying into NATO airspace have raised growing concerns that Russia's war in Ukraine could spill over the alliance's borders.
Yesterday's key developments:
- Ukraine is ready to halt attacks on Russian energy infrastructure if Moscow does the same, President Volodymyr Zelensky said Monday, after US President Donald Trump announced an apparent agreement between the two sides.
- Kyiv also warned that intensifying Russian strikes on Ukraine’s rail network were worsening each week.
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NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said Russian drone strikes near the Ukraine-Poland border would drive the military alliance to increase its support for Kyiv.
(the broadcaster with AFP, Reuters, AP)
