22 June 2026

In Anyksciai district today, an armed man opened fire on officers responding to a callout before the Aras tactical unit shot him dead at the scene. Police chief Arunas Paulauskas said there had been no other option, and investigators are tracing how the man obtained the gun and what triggered the initial response.

A Vilnius court said today it will hear the case against Russian FSB officer Nikolai Filipchenko, who is accused of recruiting two Lithuanian citizens for espionage. Investigators say he worked with another Russian national and met the targets abroad between 2011 and 2014, paying for travel, visas and communications. In Pabrade, Lithuanian and German ministers discussed the deployment of Berlin’s brigade, and Boris Pistorius said gaps remain not only in barracks and training grounds but also in schools and kindergartens for soldiers’ families. He added that Germany could use conscription mechanisms if needed for the force in Lithuania, while the target for full deployment by the end of 2027 remains unchanged.

In Plunge today, police found the body of a missing man born in 1952. Investigators are establishing the cause of death and reconstructing his final movements after he left home. Bigbank said today that Lithuania’s economy should grow the fastest in the Baltics this year. In Vilnius, the Innovation Agency presented its 2026-2030 plan, targeting business spending on research, experimental development and innovation at 1.3% of GDP by 2030. Planners for Vilnius’s National House project said today that organs and related equipment require an extra EUR 3 million beyond the current construction budget.

Germany’s minister said the German brigade in Lithuania will be formed at any cost. Lithuania is also strengthening its air defence, allocating millions to switch to domestically produced drones.

A Russian strike in Ukraine’s Chernihiv region killed a 13-year-old boy, his father and his grandmother over the past 48 hours. The attack damaged a residential block, a hospital, an educational facility and dozens of cars.

In the Sumy region, another Russian strike killed a teenager and two adults, and several members of the same family were injured. Russia also attacked two ships bound for Ukrainian ports, killing one person. In Moscow, all four airports were briefly shut after a morning drone attack, as Russian officials said nearly 60 drones were destroyed. In Kyiv, the SBU detained Ukrainian citizens recruited by Russia who were preparing an explosion and planning to flee by inflatable boat.

In occupied Crimea, no rail ferries were operating today, further disrupting cargo flows through the peninsula’s ports. Sevastopol has imposed a 20-litre fuel cap per person, and with traffic limits on the R-280 highway, the Kerch Bridge and roads remain the main supply routes. Ukraine also struck Russia’s space communications centre in Dubna, while the Kremlin issued fresh accusations against Kyiv after remarks by Volodymyr Zelenskiy and held talks between Vladimir Putin and Alexander Lukashenko. Retired U.S. Army Europe commander Ben Hodges said Russian forces in Kaliningrad would be destroyed if Moscow attacked NATO.

Kyiv said it struck a key Russian factory, while Russian officials reported five deaths. Ukraine also said it destroyed 18 Russian tanks in a special operation. Extreme weather continued to hit Europe, with France reporting three heat-related deaths and 13 drownings, while a major storm triggered flooding in Poland.

Iran and the U.S. moved closer over the past day to a deal to end the war in the Middle East. Mediators say a draft text is nearly complete, but final signatures still hinge on reopening the Strait of Hormuz and settling the fate of Iran’s enriched uranium. Washington said today it would temporarily halt sanctions on Iranian crude, and Vice President J.D. Vance said the talks had laid solid groundwork for a final agreement. Vance also said no returned Iranian funds would be used to finance terrorism while both sides keep a 60-day ceasefire in place at working level.

In the occupied West Bank, Palestinian families and local officials said today that Israel was holding the bodies of two teenagers, aged 16 and 17, after they were shot dead near Hebron. In Democratic Republic of Congo, confirmed Ebola cases have now exceeded 1,000, marking the worst point so far in the current outbreak. In the Caribbean, U.S. forces struck a suspected drug-running vessel in southern waters this week, killing two men; at least 196 people have now been reported dead in Washington’s campaign against boats tied to Latin American narcotics routes since last September.

In Miami, Cape Verde drew 2-2 with Uruguay yesterday and stayed unbeaten after two Group H matches. Kevin Pina scored Cape Verde’s first ever World Cup goal, while Uruguay now need points against Spain in their final group game.

An explosion at a gas plant in Qatar killed at least 13 people and injured dozens more. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, the number of recorded Ebola cases has exceeded 1,000.