Nato ally issues emergency alert and forces children into bunkers as Russian drone sparks panic

Lithuania's President was forced into a bunker while the country's population were told to "take close care of their loved ones" as a Russian drone sparked widespread panic.

The drone, which still has not been found, left Nato scrambling its jets after violating the Baltic state's airspace.

Train traffic screeched to a halt around capital Vilnius, while schools and nurseries were told to take children into shelters.

In an emergency alert from the country's army, locals were urged to "immediately take shelter in a safe place, take care of your close ones and await new recommendations".

An alert was also issued in the Vilnius Parliament building, where MPs and ministers were in attendance.

"The Nato Air Policing Mission is activated and targeting a drone detected in Lithuanian airspace," Defence Minister Robertas Kaunas said.

But the alliance's fighter jets were unable to locate it.

Mr Kaunas said Wednesday's drone had crossed south from Latvia, the central in the column of three Baltic neighbours.

It was not known whether it had crashed or had left Lithuania, authorities said.

The incident, which started just after 4.30pm BST, lasted about an hour and the air warning was then lifted. Air and train traffic eventually resumed.

Lithuania's Foreign Affairs Minister, Kestutis Budrys. said the incidents were "a transparent act of desperation (by Russia) - an attempt to sow chaos and distract from a simple reality: Ukraine is hitting Russia's military machine hard".

"My message to the Kremlin: nice try. Failed again," he added.

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Vladimir Putin's spin doctor Dmitry Peskov said Russia's military was "closely monitoring" the situation - and was formulating an appropriate response.

The panic marked the latest in a string of unnerving incidents in the Baltic states - all of which lie directly on Russia's border.

Russia's ambassador to the UN claimed on Tuesday that Ukraine was trying to launch military drones from Latvia.

But Canada's Foreign Minister Anita Anand, speaking in Estonian capital Tallinn on Wednesday, dismissed Moscow's claims.

"Russia is deliberately sowing disinformation every day. Its claims about the use of Baltic airspace are untrue," she said.

The Latvian Government resigned last week over its handling of the incursions.

Ukraine, meanwhile, blamed Russia for redirecting one of its drones into Estonian airspace where a Nato jet shot it down.

The head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, has called Russian threats to the Baltic countries "unacceptable" and warned they would be seen as threats to the whole European Union.

Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal on Wednesday told his Parliament he was seeking broader powers to deal with threats from military drones, aiming to close gaps in detection, response and protection of critical sites.