19 May 2026

Rimantas Sinkevičius, chair of the Seimas national security committee, said on Tuesday the panel has received no intelligence warning of planned Russian provocations against Lithuania. His comment followed a warning from the president’s office about possible serious moves by Moscow after Russia accused Lithuania over Ukrainian drone flights and launched three days of nuclear drills.

Lithuania’s defence ministry is signing agreements on Tuesday for military testing infrastructure in Lazdijai and Jurbarkas districts. Debate is also widening over air-defence priorities, the continued presence of US troops in Lithuania and whether defence spending will have to exceed the previously cited 500 million euros. Lawmakers are also floating constitutional changes that would open discussion on nuclear weapons deployment. Near the Rūdninkai military town, a roughly 20 million euro campsite with army accommodation is also planned.

The Bank of Lithuania said Paysera LT had invested client funds too riskily. Swedbank and the European Investment Fund said on Tuesday they will make about 750 million euros in loans available to Baltic small and medium-sized businesses, aimed at firms lacking collateral. In Plungė, Vičiūnai and its partners are finishing a 100 million euro salmon processing complex that will lift annual capacity from 18,000 to 50,000 tonnes and create about 200 jobs.

Lithuania’s environment watchdog has calculated nearly 580,000 euros in environmental damage from violations identified since the start of the year. Some cases have already been referred to criminal investigators, including one sent to Marijampolė county police over significant environmental harm. In parliament, lawmakers over the past day also approved ratification of a convention creating a commission to study Russia’s damage to Ukraine.

Parliament revisited President Gitanas Nausėda’s vetoed bill on allowing nuclear weapons into Lithuania. On the Vilnius–Klaipėda highway, three children were killed in a crash and the driver was found to be drunk.

Pryluky in Ukraine’s Chernihiv region reported a third death on Tuesday after a 15-year-old died in hospital following a Russian ballistic missile strike on the city centre. The attack hit a business, damaged a shopping centre and a supermarket, and left a double-digit number of people injured.

Russia on Tuesday began three days of nuclear weapons drills involving thousands of troops across the country. The exercise coincided with a fresh wave of Ukrainian drone attacks on Russian territory and Vladimir Putin’s trip to China. Over the past day, explosions were reported in the Yaroslavl region, and drones also reached the approaches to Moscow.

The Kremlin is still holding to hard-line demands on occupied Ukrainian territory and NATO’s role, leaving little sign of a negotiating breakthrough. A Russian deputy foreign minister said yesterday that any NATO intervention in the war would bring catastrophic consequences and would be treated by Moscow as a direct threat. Ukrainian analyst Oleksandr Musiyenko said yesterday that Moscow is preparing a new phase of escalation and could use Belarus and the breakaway Transnistria region.

Russia’s domestic picture is also darkening on the economy. Russian economists and a Kremlin-linked forecasting centre have warned of a possible banking crisis as bad loans rise and the risk of deposit runs grows. Moscow has also seen restaurant closures and forced lay-offs, while oil exports are facing greater exposure to shipping disruption and tanker seizures.

Ukraine's army chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said the threat of a new Russian attack from Belarus is real. At the same time, Russia threatened Latvia at the United Nations over any possible deployment of Ukrainian drones, while Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kestutis Budrys said Moscow is deliberately steering Ukrainian drones into Baltic airspace.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday approved new special operations against Russia after meeting top commander Oleksandr Syrskyi and General Staff chief Andriy Hnatov. The plan points to asymmetric strikes and wider drone use against Russian military infrastructure and logistics deeper inside Russia.

The United States on Tuesday paused its role on NORAD’s joint board with Canada. The Pentagon said Ottawa had not made credible progress on its defence pledges, and the move comes as tariff tensions rise and Donald Trump’s clash with Prime Minister Mark Carney deepens. Trump also said he had canceled planned strikes on Iran at the request of Persian Gulf countries and still hoped for a deal.

In California, the Sandy Fire above Simi Valley burned through more than 500 acres of dry brush within hours. Ventura County crews said at least one home was damaged, and evacuation orders and warnings remained in place in several neighbourhoods. In San Diego, three people were killed in a shooting at a mosque complex on Tuesday, and two teenage suspects were later found dead in a car.

Reuters reported that China secretly trained about 200 Russian soldiers in battlefield skills that could be used in Ukraine. Brazil on Monday named its 26-man World Cup squad, with Carlo Ancelotti recalling Neymar of Santos.

Nigeria's army said joint U.S.-Nigerian strikes killed 175 Islamic State fighters, including the group's global operations director. Vladimir Putin arrived in Beijing for talks with Xi Jinping.