According to Vilmantas Vitkauskas, director of the National Crisis Management Centre (NKVC), no signs of an explosion were detected.
A report about the crashed UAV was received at 7:14 p.m. 17 May. The NKVC said that, based on the information of the Lithuanian Armed Forces, radars had not identified any drones on Sunday.
“It appears to be a military drone that likely entered our territory today [on Sunday]. Perhaps the main news is that there are no signs of an explosion,” Vitkauskas told reporters on Sunday evening.
According to him, circumstances must be clarified further before confirming which country’s drone this is. He added that the investigation would determine the type of drone and whether it had an explosive charge.
“Based on initial indications, what we have seen from the wreckage, what our colleagues have sent us, this is probably a Ukrainian drone. But what type […] we are unable say at the time,” stated the director of the NKVC.
He added that it is hard to say whether the drone flew into Lithuanian airspace from Latvia or from Belarus.
On Monday morning, Vitkauskas told public broadcaster LRT that work at the site was interrupted at night for safety reasons due to low visibility, but it resumed in the morning.
Police officers and anti-terrorist unit Aras are at the scene. The objective is to collect all the wreckage and components to determine the drone’s flight trajectory and direction.
In recent months, there were instances of Ukrainian drones jammed by Russian defences going off course and crossing the airspace of the Baltic States and Finland.
Meanwhile, the Kremlin claims that the Baltic States allegedly allow to use their airspace for Ukrainian strikes against Russia.
Last week, President Gitanas Nausėda said that airspace violations have become frequent in the Baltic States, Finland and Poland. Therefore, he said Lithuania must rush to develop a detection system with its partners, including Finland and on the European Union level.