23 April 2026

Lithuania has secured US approval to buy additional AIM-9X Block II Sidewinder missiles for its NASAMS air defence systems in a deal worth up to €183 million. Together with an earlier order, the military expects to field 168 missiles, and the package also includes training rounds plus engineering, technical and logistics support.

A Panevezys district court is deciding today whether to jail three suspects in the murder case of 31-year-old paramedic Mantas Sadauskas. Prosecutors are pursuing a line of inquiry that he was lured to a farmstead in Mileskunai by a fake call, unlawfully detained, killed, and that there was an attempt to hide and burn the body. The first suspect brought to court was 34-year-old Vilius Solkanas, and two of the three suspects have previous convictions. In a separate major case, a Vilnius regional court prosecutor over the past day asked for 12-year prison terms for Salcininkai district residents Slavomiras Kodzis and Viktoras Valickis in the especially brutal Samarakiškes murder case.

Klaipeda has begun using a new liver cancer treatment procedure over the past 48 hours, giving doctors a more precise and less traumatic option for patients. The method had previously been introduced at Kaunas Clinics, which said it was the first in the Baltics to use the therapy, and its rollout in Klaipeda expands advanced care in western Lithuania.

Lithuania’s State Security Department warned today that the actions of a Polish politician raise concerns about the country’s security. Police are also searching for two underage girls, Mileja and Austeja, who have been away from home for a day.

President Gitanas Nauseda, meeting Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Cyprus, urged faster talks on Ukraine's membership in the European Union. Vilnius authorities warned the city had been placed on a Russian target list and called it an intimidation attempt.

Russian drone strikes overnight killed four people across Ukraine, and the death toll in Dnipropetrovsk region rose to three. At least 10 people were injured there, including girls aged nine and 14. A separate strike on civilian transport infrastructure in Zhytomyr region killed one woman. Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched 155 drones and intercepted 139.

The EU on Thursday formally unlocked a 90 billion euro loan for Ukraine in Cyprus and approved its 20th sanctions package against Russia. Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the money could reach Kyiv at the end of May or the start of June. The deal came after months of wrangling with Hungary, which had tied the package to a dispute over a damaged pipeline.

Ales Bialiatski said in Vilnius that negotiating with Alexander Lukashenko to end repression is impossible. The Nobel Peace Prize laureate, released from prison only recently, said Belarus remains tied to Moscow and that more than 1,200 political prisoners are still being held. Lithuania’s navy chief Rear Admiral Giedrius Premeneckas said Russia’s Baltic Fleet has far less room to manoeuvre after Finland and Sweden joined NATO, with undersea infrastructure still the main vulnerability.

A planned visit to Vilnius by Polish MEP Grzegorz Braun has triggered calls to bar him from entering Lithuania. MEP Dainius Žalimas asked Foreign Minister Kęstutis Budrys to put Braun on the no-entry list, citing Holocaust denial, pro-Russian rhetoric and past violent acts.

Ukraine's military said its drones struck an FSB base in occupied Donetsk. Britain and France signed a three-year pact to curb illegal migrant flows. A U.S. House committee approved a proposal for a Baltic security act.

Dnipro was hit by a Russian strike overnight, killing two people and wounding eight. Ukraine answered with drone attacks on fuel and energy sites in Samara, Nizhny Novgorod and occupied Crimea, and one person was killed in Novokuybyshevsk.

Washington today accused China of industrial-scale attempts to steal U.S. AI technology. The White House said evidence from several AI labs could support tighter security rules and fresh restrictions on Chinese labs. The U.S. also said Beijing pressured African states to block Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te’s trip to Eswatini. Seychelles, Mauritius and Madagascar withdrew overflight permits, halting the visit to Taiwan’s only diplomatic ally in Africa.

A tanker stranded for 54 days near the Strait of Hormuz remains the clearest sign that shipping is still paralysed by the U.S.-Iran war. Captain Rahman Al-Jubouri said supplies are running low, morale is fraying and his crew still cannot move safely in either direction. The U.S. Navy has intercepted at least three Iran-linked tankers in Asian waters since early April, but at least 34 such vessels have still crossed the blockade line. The supertanker Dorena reached waters off India within days of leaving Iran, and Tehran said today it will not reopen the Strait of Hormuz while the U.S. blockade remains in place. Gas supply disruption from the conflict is also raising the risk of a broader global technology squeeze.

Israeli strikes in south Lebanon killed five people, including journalist Amal Khalil, and wounded one more. Beirut is seeking an extension of the ceasefire in Washington, and the U.S. Embassy today advised Americans to leave Lebanon. Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is set to face trial over crimes against humanity linked to his deadly anti-drug campaign.

Israel's defence minister said the country is waiting for U.S. approval to strike Iran in a way that would send it "back to the Stone Age." France told the United Nations it considers the death of a peacekeeper in Lebanon a war crime.