Closing summary
And, on that note, we will be closing the blog for today.
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A drone shot down in Lithuania last night was carrying an explosive device, Lithuanian defence minister Robertas Kaunas said (15:32).
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The drone crossed into Lithuanian airspace from Belarus (13:05) and was downed near a pumped-storage hydroelectric plant in Kruonis, minister confirmed.
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The drone was shot down by Italian fighter jets operating as part of a Nato mission (10:25), with the Italian defence minister saying it “most probably” came down from Russia (14:33).
Meanwhile,
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Denmark summoned the Russian ambassador to Copenhagen after a Russian warship fired two emergency flares at a Danish army’s helicopter in the Baltic Sea in the latest of incidents attributed to Moscow (9:58).
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Russia denied responsibility for the incident, blaming Denmark (12:25, 12:45).
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The EU (15:07) and Ukraine (12:37) offered their support to Denmark.
Separately,
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The Dutch authorities are investigating who could be behind a series of suspected sabotage attacks that disrupted the operation of its railways, including on a number key transport routes across the country (10:03, 11:40, 13:26).
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The final results of the Swedish parliamentary election are now not expected before Thursday, with a higher-than-usual number of votes yet to be counted (10:30).
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'Russia manipulates and blames Denmark' but 'demonstrates its intention to escalate' after helicopter incident, EU defence commissioner says
Meanwhile, EU defence commissioner Andrius Kibilius condemned Russian attempts to “manipulate” about the helicopter incident and “blame Denmark.”
Indirectly responding to Russian comments earlier today (12:25, 12:45), he said:
“Russia manipulates&blames Denmark. I have full trust in [Danish] words&evidence. Russia demonstrates its intention to escalate. Russia needs to know: hybrid attacks against Europe will be met [with a] strong&united European hybrid defence!”
Germany searches for debris after drone crashes near military airbase
Separately, German authorities are searching for debris from a drone believed to have crashed near Lake Steinhude in the Hanover region, just one kilometre from the German Bundeswehr’s airbase in Wunstorf, Bild reported.
The tabloid said some parts of the drone have already been found, but investigators hope to recover more “to rule out potential threat” and track down who is behind it.
Regional broadcaster NDR reported that the debris was found on Monday, and there is no further threat to the public.
“Further information can only be released after the search and any findings have been examined,” authorities were quoted as saying.
Explosive device found on drone shot down over Lithuania, minister says
A drone shot down in Lithuania last night was carrying an explosive device, Lithuanian defence minister Robertas Kaunas said.
He said that during a search of the crash site, “an explosive device was discovered and subsequently neutralised by bomb disposal experts.”
Kaunas also thanked Italian fighter jet pilots for taking “decisive actions” to shoot down the drone.
Meanwhile, the Lithuanian army stressed that the incident showed its systems worked as intended.
“Fundamentally, nothing has changed … The mechanism works,” it said.
Updated
'These are not isolated incidents,' EU's von der Leyen warns
The European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen condemned “reckless and dangerous Russian behaviour.”
She said the events in Denmark and Lithuania were “not isolated incidents,” but “part of a broader pattern of Russian aggression and provocation against Europe, testing our readiness and our resolve.”
“Russia will find our resolve only growing stronger. We are reinforcing our collective deterrence and defence, together with Nato. And we are stepping up the pressure on Russia,” she said.
Italy has decided to extend for another 15 days the suspension of the European Union’s Schengen border-free arrangement with Spain, Reuters reports Rome’s interior ministry said on Tuesday.
Italy names Russia as probable source of drone shot down over Lithuania
The Italian defence minister Guido Crosetto has said that the drone shot down by an Italian Nato fighter over Lithuania “most probably” came from Russia.
The downed drone fell in a rural area near Lake Kaunas, in the centre of the country. Lithuania’s defence minister, Kęstutis Budrys, said Nato allies had been informed about the incident and discussions were under way. A presidential security adviser, Deividas Matulionis, said the drone may have strayed off course.
Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia – all of which are Nato members and share a border with Russia – have regularly reported drone incursions since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. A Nato fighter shot down a Ukrainian drone over Estonia in May.
Updated
German chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Tuesday there was no viable parliamentary majority in Germany outside his coalition with the Social Democrats (SPD).
Dismissing the prospect of a minority government, Reuters reports Merz said “I was elected for four years and want to use this time to solve problems,” adding that he hoped to agree on further reforms with the SPD after upcoming state elections in Berlin and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.
After the AfD victory in Saxony-Anhalt, observers are closely watching those elections for more signs of faltering public support in Merz’s policies.
A Ukrainian army unit has launched a counteroffensive against Russian forces near Lyman, an embattled town in Ukraine’s east, AFP reports the unit’s commander said Tuesday.
The area has been the site of intense battles throughout the four-and-a-half-year war.
“The 3rd Army Corps has launched an offensive operation called Vivaldi in this sector,” the commander of Ukraine’s 3rd Army Corps, Andriy Biletsky, said in a video on Telegram.
It was reported that Ukrainian troops had made a small pocket of gains north of the town, whose capture could pave the way for Moscow’s forces to sweep south and threaten the Ukrainian-held Kramatorsk and Sloviansk.
Russian strategic bombers carried out patrol flights over neutral waters
Meanwhile, Russian Tu-95 strategic bombers carried out patrol flights over neutral waters of the Barents Sea and the Norwegian Sea, Russian news agencies said, citing the defence ministry.
Foreign fighter jets escorted the Russian bombers during parts of the flights, the ministry said, quoted by Reuters.
Dutch railway tracks disrupted by sabotage in 30 locations, operator says, as King opens new parliament session
Let’s catch up on the situation in the Netherlands (10:03, 11:40).
In the latest update, the track operator Pro Rail has said that various pipes and other items were found at 30 locations across the country.
All trains in the vicinity of the track blockages were halted, while there were also serious disruptions elsewhere, including to international services to Germany, Reuters reported.
In some cases, there were also cases of new blockages re-appearing in the same places after they were cleared, NOS reported.
The incident comes on Prinsjesdag, or the Prince’s Day, when King Willem-Alexander formally opens a new session of parliament and sets out the government’s plans for the 2027 budget.
Lithuania to send a note to Belarus about drone incursion as investigation continues, minister says
Meanwhile, Lithuanian foreign minister Kęstutis Budrys said that Lithuania will deliver a note to Belarus to set out what it knows about the overnight drone incursion into its airspace.
He added that the work to determine the type and ownership of the drone was underway. “We will take other actions based on that,” he said in comments quoted by Lithuanian broadcaster LRT.
Budrys added that Nato’s eastern flank “must be strengthened and its resilience increased” amid growing tensions with Russia.
Updated
Helicopter incident between Russia and Denmark reflects rising tensions, expert says
Nordic correspondent
Experts said that Monday’s incident on the Danish straits reflects increasing tensions between Denmark and Russia that is slowly moving towards Cold War levels.
Ebsen Salling Larsen, a military analyst at the Center for Joint Operations at the Danish Defence Academy, said it is normal for Danish ships, helicopters or planes to go out to monitor Russian state-owned ships and warships. Sometimes this prompts Russian crew to point weapons at them or use a tracking radar.
But Monday’s incident, during which Russian flares were fired at a Danish helicopter, was unusual and marked a “change in pattern”.
“There’s an ongoing tension and the incident yesterday talks to that increased tension somewhat,” said Salling Larsen. “If you go back to the cold war you have more incidents of ships bumping into each other and so forth. We are slowly reaching that level again.”
The show of force, he said, was a reaction to Danish support for Ukraine and the Baltic states.
It is unlikely that Denmark would close the Danish straits, he said, because Copenhagen wants to follow international law and has its own vested interests in being able to move freely.
“That would be a Pandora’s box we would rather not open,” he said. “We are a small state with a large merchant fleet so we have some interests there as well.”
Russian frigate issued no warning or attempted radio contact before firing flares at Danish helicopter, minister says
Meanwhile, Denmark’s defence minister Jeppe Bruus told Reuters that no warning or radio contact was made before a Russian frigate fired flares towards a Danish military helicopter.
He also said the flare from the frigate passed “within a matter of meters” from the Danish helicopter.
Bruus said it showed Russia’s increased willingness to take risks in its aggressive behaviour.
Russia's ambassador blames Denmark for helicopter incident
After speaking to the Russian media (12:25), Moscow’s ambassador to Copenhagen Vladimir Barbin was somewhat more incendiary in his comments to the Danish media.
He told Danish broadcaster DR that essentially it was the Danish helicopter that provoked the Russian ship, branding it a “reckless” behaviour.
He also accused Denmark of showing “no interest … in preventing the situation from escalating.”
Updated
'Moscow continues attempts to destabilise Europe,' Ukraine's foreign minister warns
Ukrainian foreign minister Andrii Sybiha responded to the incident in Denmark, declaring Kyiv’s “full support” after “unacceptable actions targeting a Danish helicopter.”
“Moscow continues its attempts to destabilise Europe, not just Denmark. Joint and decisive action is required and Ukraine is ready to contribute to all efforts aimed at strengthening the protection of Europe from Russian threats,” he said.
Russia to 'carefully study' alleged incident involving a Danish helicopter
Russian ambassador to Denmark Vladimir Babin said Russia would “carefully study” the alleged incident involving a Danish helicopter.
In comments to Russian state news agency Ria Novosti, Barbin said “the Russian side will carefully study all the circumstances of the incident.”
But he implied that Denmark was at fault, saying he “demanded that the Danish side take the necessary measures to prevent such incidents from recurring in the future,” RIA reported.
Updated
'Long, thin pipes' being removed from Dutch railway tracks as suspected sabotage causes disruption
We are also getting a bit more detail from the Netherlands, as the Dutch broadcaster NOS showed long, thin pipes being removed from the tracks after causing widespread disruption to railway services.
“At this stage, it appears to be a deliberate disruption of train services caused by human action. It is not yet known who is responsible or what the motive is“, the infrastructure operator ProRail said in the latest update to its statement on the incident.
Vilnius airport hit by delays after brief disruption caused by 'unidentified object'
Separately, Vilnius airport was forced to temporarily suspend its operations this morning after another “unidentified object” was reported in its vicinity.
The 30-minutes disruption resulted in delays to flights to/from Copenhagen, Tel Aviv, Venice, and Warsaw, among others, LRT said.
It has since resumed normal service.
We are getting a bit more detail about the drone incident in Lithuania (10:25).
A drone shot down over its territory last night may have strayed off course, according to presidential security adviser Deividas Matulionis, public broadcaster LRT reported.
The key question of whether its incursion into Lithuanian airspace was intentional or not will be part of an investigation.
But Lithuania’s State Defence Council will meet on Wednesday to review the country’s air defence setup, he said.
Separately, defence minister Robertas Kaunas said the drone was downed near a pumped-storage hydroelectric plant, part of Lithuania’s critical infrastructure.
Updated
Swedish vote count may not be completed until Thursday, authorities say
I am also keeping an eye on the latest from Sweden, and it looks like we may have to wait a bit longer for the final results of the parliamentary election.
The Swedish election authority said it was expecting a larger than usual number of late-arriving votes this year - potentially around 300,000 – and so the count may not be fully completed until Thursday, Swedish broadcaster SVT reported.
With 95% votes counted, the left-leaning opposition bloc leads with 176 seats in the new parliament to the government’s 173, with just 32,000 votes separating the two blocs.
Updated
Lithuania briefs EU, Nato allies about drone incident, minister says
Meanwhile, Lithuanian defence minister Kęstutis Budrys said he informed Nato allies about last night’s drone incident, with discussions now ongoing on how to strengthen the alliance’s eastern flank.
He said Lithuania will be “requesting discussions on these topics both in the EU and Nato, because it is obvious that we all still have a lot of homework to do,” Lithuanian public broadcaster LRT reported.
The drone was shot down by Italian fighter jets taking part in a Nato mission, Italy’s defence ministry confirmed.
Suspected sabotage disrupts Dutch trains
Separately, Dutch authorities are investigating a major outage that affected parts of the country’s railway system, suspecting a possible sabotage after objects were placed on tracks.
The objects caused failures across the network, affecting several level crossings which disrupted road traffic, Dutch rail infrastructure operator Pro Rail said in a statement.
It explained that as a result, “our computer system identifies a section of track as occupied, even though there is no train present.”
“Because safety always comes first, signals automatically turn red. As a result, trains must stop or slow down. Level crossings can also malfunction,” it said.
It did not comment on who could be behind the incident.
Updated
Danish incident further proof of Russia's 'aggressive' behaviour, former Danish defence minister warns
Former Danish defence minister Troels Lund Poulsen warned that the frigate incident was a further proof of Russia’s “extremely aggressive” behaviour seeking to “provoke potential conflicts.”
“We should be very aware of that,” he said in comments reported by Danish broadcaster DR.
Defence minister Jeppe Bruus called an all-party meeting on the incident this morning to give political leaders a more detailed read on what happened, DR said.
Morning opening: Russia-attributed security incidents intensify across Europe
Denmark has summoned Russia’s ambassador after a Russian warship fired two emergency flares at a Danish army’s helicopter in the Baltic Sea in the latest of incidents attributed to Moscow.
The incident took place during what Denmark said was “a routine” monitoring of the frigate.
“Reckless action from Russia towards Danish military during a routine overflight yesterday. Russian actions are meant to intimidate and divide. They will not succeed. We will not waver,” prime minister Mette Frederiksen said.
Denmark’s foreign minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen said the frigate’s behaviour was “completely unacceptable.”
The incident took place amid worsening security situation in Europe.
Separately, Nato fighter jets stationed on the alliance’s eastern flank shot down a drone – believed to be flying from Belarus – over Lithuania last night.
“With Russia intensifying its aggression against Ukraine, such readiness is vital for our region,” Lithuania’s president Gitanas Nausėda said.
Meanwhile, Poland discovered remains of a suspected Russian drone near its Baltic Sea coast, just a day after a Russian drone hit a train on Ukraine’s border with Poland on Sunday.
It’s Tuesday, 15 September 2026, it’s Jakub Krupa here, and this is Europe Live.
Good morning.
