Second-largest Lithuanian city, UNESCO City of Design
NATO fighter jets have shot down a jet-powered drone that entered Lithuanian airspace from Belarus and fell near Pratkunai, central Lithuania. Authorities have said the device likely carried explosives; Lithuania has begun analysing the wreckage. Allied officials are saying the incident fits a pattern of cross-border drone activity tied to RussiaUkraine fighting, and diplomatic rebuttals are continuing.
Denmark has summoned Russia’s ambassador after a Russian warship has fired two emergency flares at a Danish Fennec helicopter during a routine photographic mission in international waters off Gedser. Copenhagen has called the action unacceptable and reckless; Moscow has defended its crew and accused Danish aircraft of dangerous manoeuvres.
The Danish Defence Intelligence Service has warned of a low but growing risk that Russia could carry out limited attacks on Ukraine support infrastructure or stage small incursions into NATO-bordering states. The agency sees hybrid warfare intensifying, with potential cyber and sabotage campaigns and high casualties in worst cases. This follows a string of European security alerts and a Polish incident at a Starlink site.
Heidenau’s town council has halted new Stolpersteine plaques, shifting memorials to a cemetery site amid pressure from AfD and CDU allies. The move has drawn international criticism and intensifies debates over how Germany remembers Holocaust victims. The decision comes as AfD gains polling momentum and mainstream parties wrestle with their approach to remembrance in the east.
The US-led discussions in Abu Dhabi have aimed to shape a postwar security framework for Europe, with Zelenskyy noting that Washington has backed Ukraine’s battlefield assessment while warning that Putin adopts a “different reality.” European leaders stress the need for de-escalation and energy-security safeguards as drones and war-related strikes continue across the region.