On September 15, a NATO fighter jet intercepted and destroyed a drone carrying an explosive device over Lithuanian airspace — the first confirmed instance of an armed aircraft crossing into alliance territory from suspected Russian origin. The act was not merely a border violation but a signal, one that NATO Secretary-General Rutte described as part of Russia's increasingly reckless pattern of provocation along the alliance's eastern flank. Lithuania, small in size but significant in its position between Russian and NATO power, has become a proving ground for a contest of resolve that neither