Tusk on the Lithuania drone blast: operations over Polish territory without Poland's consent are unacceptable

On Sunday a drone flew into Lithuanian airspace, prompting NATO fighter jets to be scrambled; according to the Lithuanian side, radars first picked up the object while it was still over Polish territory, 30–40 km from the Lithuanian border. The drone exploded in the Pasvalys district in northern Lithuania: a civilian car was damaged and no one was hurt. Lithuanian Prime Minister Mindaugas Sinkevičius said it was a Ukrainian FPV drone carrying explosives, and the Ukrainian side confirmed losing contact with one of its craft.

Before a cabinet meeting, Donald Tusk said Poland would cooperate closely with Lithuania and establish all the circumstances of the incident, and promised to press firmly for full explanations from Ukraine — the request will be made by the operational commander. “Poland does not allow operations to be conducted on our territory or above it without the explicit consent of the Polish state. That will not change regardless of who might be conducting such operations,” the prime minister said.

Ukraine apologised: foreign ministry spokesman Heorhii Tykhyi wrote that the drones' deviation may have been the result of Russian electronic warfare during an operation against “legitimate military targets” in Russia. The cause of the explosion has not been established; the versions include a malfunction, running out of fuel, or hitting the ground or trees.