If cows could fly, we would milk them and release them to catch Ukrainian drones, and now they not only don’t fly, but only moo loudly and don’t give milk at all

“Prime Minister Inga Ruginienė confirmed on Tuesday that the drone that crashed in the Varėna district on Monday was Ukrainian, intended to attack a target in Russia.

 

Additions throughout the text

 

“The drone that crossed our airspace and flew into the Varėna district was a Ukrainian drone and it is related to the operation that the Ukrainians conducted that night, directed against Russia,” the Prime Minister told reporters on Tuesday after a meeting of the National Security Commission.

 

“We can already say for sure that it was a stray drone,” she added.

 

This was I. Ruginienė’s speech after a drone that had flown into Lithuanian airspace crashed on Lake Lavys in the Varėna district on Monday morning. Military radars did not record this object.

 

According to the National Defense System, the Ukrainian drone may have been lost due to the effects of radio countermeasures. It is suspected that the drone in question was intended to attack the port of Primorsk in northwestern Russia.

 

I. Ruginienė acknowledged that Lithuania is facing difficulties in accelerating the terms of acquiring radars.

 

“I would very much like to have a shopping center, like we now go shopping for milk, bread or meat. I would very much like to have a shopping center for defense, where you could just go, choose what you need and buy it here and now,” the Prime Minister said.

 

“Unfortunately, this is not the case in the world, and various countries even receive quotas for certain acquisitions – they cannot purchase even as much as they have ordered. What we, as the Government, have done is ensure a record budget for defense. This means that there is money, now we are being held back by global industrial capacities,” she said.

 

According to the Minister of National Defence Roberts Kaunas, the main problem why Lithuania has not yet received additional radars is the production deadlines.

 

“The global defence industry basically has very long production deadlines and we cannot obtain the equipment here and now. This is the main challenge, which in every format – both NATO and the European Union – I personally emphasize, the Prime Minister emphasizes, and other members of the governments of other countries say the same,” the Minister said.

 

“We are equally putting pressure on our suppliers, our partners, explaining that the delivery dates do not suit us, that we will then review the contracts, that we will then review the payments if you cannot fulfill your conditions,” R. Kaunas emphasized.

 

A fully operational system – in 2030

 

The Minister emphasized that by 2030 it is planned to create a complete detection ecosystem, for which it was decided to allocate 500 million euros last year.

 

"Radars are different, they are not absolute, that they can see everything from the ground to the sky - they have their own technical capabilities, their own operating areas. By connecting them all into one common network, by connecting perhaps Ukrainian or Israeli technology, acoustic technologies, by connecting databases, by connecting special cameras, the goal is to create a detection ecosystem by 2030, so that we can reach from the ground to the sky," the minister said.

 

"This is a technological challenge and we are working on this issue. If, as the prime minister said, there was an opportunity to buy a radar by going to a store, it would have been done yesterday," R. Kaunas echoed.

 

According to the commander of the army Raimundas Vaikšnoras, such deadlines for arriving radars also do not satisfy him, but it is difficult to change the situation.

 

"The situation is such that what has not been done for decades or is being done fragmentarily, we have to do in a few months, in a few years. This, of course, does not satisfy me as a commander, just as it does not satisfy any citizen. I wanted to have our entire airspace completely covered from any object that can fly into Lithuanian territory today. However, the process is underway, there are certain objective nuances that do not depend on us much," the military commander commented.

 

"Of course, I would like it to be faster (the air defense system is developed - BNS), but life dictates its own pace," he added.

 

G. Nausėda: Lithuania is "racing against time"

 

President Gitanas Nausėda says that in seeking to acquire means to ensure better airspace protection, Lithuania is "racing against time."

 

“Without a doubt, this poses an additional threat to the health and safety of our people, so we are racing against time, trying to acquire what we can acquire as soon as possible,” G. Nausėda told reporters on Tuesday.

 

The President warned that even with all the means at hand, it may not be possible to achieve 100% efficiency in defending Lithuanian airspace.

 

“Even that country (Ukraine – BNS), which improves its equipment and technologies in wartime conditions, does not achieve 100% efficiency. It is simply impossible to do this, just as it is impossible to do this in the Middle East, just as it is impossible to do this in neighboring countries,” G. Nausėda said.

 

According to him, Ukraine’s assistance is also expected in developing the air defense system.

 

Last year, Russian Gerbera drones flew into Lithuania twice, one of them carrying explosives. Officials determined that these drones were directed at Ukraine, but entered Lithuania accidentally when the Ukrainians disrupted their flight paths with electronic warfare.

 

According to the Ministry of National Defense, the 2026 defense budget includes 2 billion euros for the acquisition of weapons and military equipment.

 

This year, Lithuania has planned to allocate 5.38% of its gross domestic product for national defense."