Lithuanian authorities raised a yellow air alert across Vilnius and nearby districts after detecting an unidentified object on radar, leading to a temporary closure of Vilnius International Airport and diversions to Kaunas.
NATO fighter jets from Baltic Air Policing, including an Italian one from Šiauliai, took off to investigate the object, which had entered from Belarus and lingered in Lithuanian airspace for about 20 minutes before heading toward Russia's Kaliningrad.
Officials confirmed it was birds mimicking a drone on radar, lifted the alert within 38 minutes to an hour, and reassured everyone the danger had passed while the Vilnius marathon carried on.