The Lithuanian Defence Ministry announced the closure of the airspace along the border with Belarus. The ban will be in effect until 1 October.
According to the BNS news agency, the decision was approved by the Lithuanian Ministry of Transport and Communications in response to a corresponding appeal by the commander-in-chief of the country’s Armed Forces.
“This was done taking into account the security situation and threats to society, including the risks arising for civil aviation from – due to airspace violations by drones, as well as the need to create conditions for the Lithuanian military to perform tasks defined by law in peacetime in response to such and similar airspace violations,” the Lithuanian Ministry of Defence said.
The ban may be extended if the threat from drones entering Lithuanian airspace does not diminish, the ministry added.
There have been at least two cases of drone flights from the Belarusian territory to Lithuania recently: July 10, a Russian drone “Gerbera,” imitating “Shahed,” flew there, it was without explosives, while July 28, another drone “Gerbera” flew over Vilnius and crashed at a firing range a hundred kilometres from the border, it was loaded with explosives weighing two kilograms.
After the latest incident, Lithuania strengthened its air defences. It also announced plans to strengthen the border and purchase new means to detect and combat drones.
August 12, the Ministry of Defence of Belarus announced that the joint exercise “West-2025” with Russia would be held from 12 to 16 September. The main purpose of the exercise is to test the capabilities of Belarus and the Russian Federation to ensure security and repel possible aggression. The number of servicemen, who will participate in the exercise, has not yet been announced.
Initially, the Belarusian authorities stressed the planned and regular nature of these exercises, but recently they have been increasingly claiming that they are a response to “militarisation” in neighbouring Poland and the Baltic States.