+++ News in the Ukraine war +++: Drone shot down over Lithuania, EU postpones sanctions

According to the government, NATO fighter jets shot down a drone over Lithuania. The defense ministry in Vilnius said the unmanned flying object was taken out of the sky shortly after midnight by Italian Eurofighters. The authorities had previously alerted the population of several regions of the Baltic EU and NATO country about a possible threat from the air. There was initially no more precise information about the origin and type of the drone that was shot down.

"I thank the Alliance forces for their rapid response," wrote President Gitanas Nauseda on Platform It was reportedly the first time a drone was shot down over Lithuania.

According to the head of the national crisis management center, Vilmantas Vitkauskas, the drone was shot down over a rural area near the village of Pratkunai, which is about 50 kilometers southeast of the second largest city of Kaunas. According to initial findings, the drone probably flew into Lithuania from Belarus, as he said on Lithuanian radio. There is currently no information about victims or damage. Debris from a drone was found in the launch area and is now being examined.

Lithuania borders the Russian Baltic Sea exclave of Kaliningrad and Russia's ally Belarus. Since the Russian attack on Ukraine, the country has felt particularly threatened. According to government information, Lithuania's military intelligence service has information that Russia may be considering attacks on critical infrastructure in the Baltic states.

The Bundeswehr is currently setting up a German tank brigade in Lithuania. The battle group, which is ready for combat and capable of acting independently, is expected to be operational by 2027 with 4,800 soldiers. (dpa)

Meanwhile, there is another dispute in the EU about Russia sanctions. As a spokesman for the current Irish Council Presidency announced, the member states were unable to agree to extend punitive measures against around 3,000 people, institutions and companies that were due to expire this Tuesday by twelve months as originally planned. Only an extension of seven days until midnight on September 22nd could be agreed upon. Until then, further discussions on controversial issues should be held.

According to information from the German Press Agency, the reason for the quarrels is in particular Slovakia's demand to lift the EU sanctions against the Russian oligarch Alisher Usmanov. The country is threatening to block the extension of all punitive measures if Usmanov is not removed from the list. According to diplomats, Slovakia was recently supported by France.

The Financial Times reported in the evening that France's lobbying was part of a plan to free French citizens imprisoned in Azerbaijan. The former Soviet republic has long been campaigning for Usmanov to be removed from the EU list. The government in Paris initially did not comment on the reasons for its position.

Slovak Foreign Minister Juraj Blanar had already confirmed in the spring that Slovakia was supporting the oligarch in the fight against EU sanctions. According to a report by Radio Free Europe at the time, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico is said to have forwarded a letter from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in which he supported Usmanov. Erdogan justified this by saying that Usmanov had made a contribution to greater opening of the Turkic-speaking states towards the West. In addition to Turkey, this group also includes Azerbaijan.

Other EU states did not want to support Slovakia's demand until the end. The risk is that the lifting of sanctions against Usmanov could give other Russians arguments to sue against punitive measures. (dpa)

Russia has again attacked the Ukrainian capital Kyiv with drones, hitting another gas station. One person was injured, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on Tuesday on the short message service Telegram. A warehouse was also hit. According to Ukrainian authorities, Russia has recently expanded its attacks on gas stations. The authorities in Russia reported new Ukrainian attacks. In the southern Russian port city of Taganrog, a rocket attack again damaged, among other things, a warehouse belonging to the online retailer Ozon. In addition, a drone attack hit an industrial plant in the Samara region on the Volga. It was not mentioned which facility it was. There are large oil refineries in the region.

On Monday, US President Donald Trump said that Ukraine and Russia had agreed not to attack each other's energy facilities. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy then said that Kyiv was ready to support this US move if Washington could guarantee that Russia was actually ready to end the war. Russia initially did not comment on this. (rtr)