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Lithuanian Prime Minister Mindaugas Sinkevicius said the country is preparing evacuation plans and would fight back if attacked by Russia, citing what he described as continuing security threats, including drones entering Lithuanian airspace.
Speaking to the BBC’s Newsnight program, Sinkevicius said Lithuanians feel under constant threat from Russia and that authorities are preparing for different scenarios.
“If we are attacked, we will respond and we will engage in the conflict,” he said.
Sinkevicius said one scenario under consideration involves evacuating elderly residents from cities while preventing traffic congestion.
“We are facing concrete threats,” he said. “They do not happen every day, but we experience them, and for us, they are real.”
Lithuania has reported numerous incidents over the past year that it has described as “hybrid attacks,” blaming neighboring Belarus, a close Russian ally.
Flights at Vilnius airport were disrupted Monday night by balloon-like objects that the airport operator described as part of a “hybrid attack carried out by Belarus.”
Separately, a drone that entered Lithuania from Belarus on the night of Sept. 15 was shot down near the Kruonis Hydroelectric Power Plant in the Kaisiadorys region.
The drone was intercepted by Italian fighter jets stationed at NATO’s air base in Siauliai.
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