The minister says that on Monday the situation will be clarified with the military leadership.
“The response (after declaring an air threat – BNS) was appropriate – it is better to react preventively and make sure that the threat was not real. People were warned, the alert level was appropriate. However, I have questions about the incident in the morning, when at 4 a.m. in Lithuania a flying object was also identified by radars, but neither were people informed, nor were fighter jets scrambled,” R. Kaunas told LRT radio on Sunday.
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“Therefore, regarding this case, I asked the military commander to provide me with specific information tomorrow morning – how, who, why it was done and why such decisions were made,” he added.
As reported by the Lithuanian Armed Forces, at 4:05 a.m. on Sunday, the military air force radars near Varėna recorded an object crossing the country’s territory and entering the Russian Kaliningrad region. It is likely that it came from Belarus.
The head of the National Crisis Management Center (NKVC), Vilmantas Vitkauskas, told journalists earlier on Sunday that the decision not to inform the public and not to scramble NATO fighter jets was made based on the object’s movement trajectory on the radars.
“The object did not descend, it maintained a steady course, (…) but the flight was constantly monitored, we were prepared, (…) but the decision was made that it was not necessary to do so, because the object did not pose a threat to our people,” V. Vitkauskas said.
Meanwhile, the yellow air threat in Vilnius city and district as well as in Trakai and Elektrėnai districts lasted about 38 minutes in total – from 12:59 to 13:37. Residents received notifications, and fighter jets scrambled from Šiauliai determined that the radars had detected a flock of birds.
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According to R. Kaunas, more measures should be taken to more effectively distinguish dangerous objects from harmless ones.
“Being able to identify birds, distinguish them from drones or other flying objects, I think is definitely necessary. This requires efforts from the military and, of course, additional solutions that are being implemented,” the minister said.
After the threat was declared, the operation of Vilnius airport was also temporarily suspended, affecting three flights.
The yellow alert signal means that residents are urged to remain calm and find a safe place.
