16 June 2026

Mindaugas Sinkevičius said today he will take over as prime minister after Gintautas Paluckas stepped down. The Social Democrats still need to finish coalition talks with the Democrats and present President Gitanas Nausėda with a full cabinet lineup.

Defence Minister Robertas Kaunas said Lithuania’s integrated air-defence build-out will cost several hundred million euros over three years. The first purchases will focus on new radar systems and mobile air-defence units for low-flying drones, and he said other security programmes would not be cut. The Lithuanian army said troops from the Butigeidis Dragoon Battalion have moved to the Gallant Boar 2026 exercise near the Suwałki Gap in Poland, where Lithuanian, Polish and French forces will train through June 26. Residents were warned to expect heavier military traffic on Lithuanian roads and brief disruptions as the unit deploys.

More details emerged over the past day on the State Registries Center breach, where more than 600,000 records may have been taken. Investigators are tracing access through Migration Department accounts on the Interior Ministry network, with some activity logged outside working hours between early January and April. The center has suspended its self-service tool that lets people check who accessed their data.

President Gitanas Nausėda said today in Vilnius that little time remains before major changes hit industry, finance, transport and public services. He called for faster digitalisation, worker retraining and technology investment that will shape which firms remain competitive. Lithuanian researcher Lupeikaitė-Kuncienė also won a UNESCO award for seal research. Other domestic stories included planned new measures after 400 children in Lithuania were harmed by sexual violence in a year, an agency assessment showing the biggest gains in textile and biological waste collection, and continued attention on a woman’s final public message before her death without verifiable new details in the past 48 hours.

Lithuania’s Social Democrats unanimously approved Gintautas Sinkevičius as prime minister and backed a new coalition agreement. The Farmers and Greens Union also approved joining the ruling majority, with party leaders indicating the cabinet lineup will largely remain unchanged. In Germany, Defence Minister Boris Pistorius announced billion-dollar investment plans for anti-drone defence.

Ukraine said it shot down 114 of 132 Russian attack drones launched overnight. The latest barrage followed similarly large raids in recent days, with Kyiv relying on air defences, mobile fire groups and electronic warfare.

Moscow said on Tuesday it had downed 60 drones and that an oil refinery near the capital was hit in the attacks. In Crimea, a strike sparked a fire at a railway station, while witnesses shared footage of dozens of drones heading toward Moscow. Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Russia had lost part of the battlefield initiative, but warned that Ukraine can hold that edge only if Western weapons deliveries accelerate. G7 leaders are also due to discuss further support for Ukraine with Zelenskiy.

In Poland, Monday brought the fatal shooting of Semion Skrepetsky, a 44-year-old Russian citizen who had lived there since 2021 and mocked Vladimir Putin through caricatures and performances. Police detained a Belarusian suspect near the scene in Biala Podlaska, close to the Belarus border, and investigators are examining both motive and route.

Brussels over the past day has been working on a new EU sanctions package against Russia, with Patriarch Kirill again among the names under discussion. His inclusion still requires unanimous approval from all 27 member states after Hungary blocked the move in the bloc’s sixth sanctions round in 2022. Potsdam on Tuesday was preparing to neutralize a World War Two bomb found in the city, with restrictions imposed around the site and a gradual reopening planned afterward. In the UK, the tax authority won a case against Bolt, a ruling that could shape a roughly 1.1 billion euro dispute involving Uber, while London also said it would supply nuclear fuel to Ukraine and tighten sanctions on Russia.

A major Moscow oil refinery halted operations after a Ukrainian strike. Russia also confirmed that one of its warships fired warning shots at a British yacht off the UK coast.

Donald Trump confirmed that the US will send another 5,000 troops to Poland, cementing Warsaw’s role as Washington’s main military hub on NATO’s eastern flank. Vice-president J.D. Vance said yesterday that the US expects the Strait of Hormuz to reopen soon without tolls for shipping, and that the main obstacle in talks with Iran remains Tehran’s stockpile of enriched uranium. Axios reported that the CIA does not believe Iran will accept US nuclear terms, even as Iran’s lead negotiator is expected at a ceremony to sign a possible agreement. Several ships still transited the Gulf route over the past day despite tension around the US-Iran talks.

FBI director Kash Patel said authorities had disrupted a plot to attack a combat-sports event on White House grounds. The invitation-only UFC card tied to Trump’s 80th birthday was expected to draw about 4,300 spectators inside and tens of thousands more in a fan zone. Security has since been tightened around the South Lawn event, with organisers preparing strict access controls. The US Army is also building a permanent stockpile of combat-readiness equipment in Australia so forces can move faster across the Pacific.

In Connecticut, seven people were killed on Wednesday when a vintage B-17 bomber crashed near Bradley International Airport, and investigators are examining a possible mechanical failure. Flights involving that aircraft type have been halted pending the inquiry. In technology news, a Nobel laureate publicly called Elon Musk a “human Ponzi scheme,” intensifying criticism of SpaceX and Musk’s wider business empire.

In Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region, a Russian FPV drone struck a minibus in the Bilenke area on Saturday, killing a 73-year-old woman. Four other civilians were wounded in the same attack, and three more people were injured earlier that day in Kushuhum while travelling in civilian vehicles.

Israel said it struck South Lebanon after Hezbollah launched rockets, and later said it had seized Hezbollah missiles and carried out further strikes in the area. Russia signed a military agreement with Afghanistan’s Taliban. German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius is planning multi-billion-euro investments in counter-drone defence.