Lithuania Shuts Airports and Border Crossings Over Mysterious Balloons From Belarus

Lithuania has temporarily suspended operations at two of its border crossings with Belarus and halted flights from Vilnius and Kaunas airports after detecting multiple unidentified aerial objects entering its airspace, according to LRT on October 25.

Prime Minister Inga Ruginienė announced that the “Šalčininkai” and “Medininkai” checkpoints were closed following recommendations from the National Security Commission.

The restrictions will remain in place until noon on Saturday, with the commission set to reconvene next week to assess the effectiveness of the measures.

“We aim for these decisions to be painful both for smugglers and for the Lukashenko regime, which allows them to act with impunity,” Ruginienė said.

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According to Lithuania’s National Crisis Management Center, dozens of navigation points—mostly meteorological balloons—were observed entering Lithuanian airspace from the direction of Belarus, moving along the Druskininkai–Šalčininkai corridor.

The appearance of the balloons prompted temporary suspension of operations at Vilnius and Kaunas airports earlier in the morning.

Authorities did not confirm any hostile intent behind the aerial objects but stated that airspace monitoring has been intensified. Lithuanian officials have repeatedly accused Belarus of hybrid provocations, including migrant pressure and airspace violations, over the past year.

The National Security Commission is expected to issue further recommendations in the coming days regarding the border and airspace control measures.

Earlier, Lithuania reported a Russian military aircraft entering its airspace, which President Gitanas Nausėda condemned as a “blatant breach of international law and territorial integrity.” He said the Foreign Ministry would summon Russian diplomats to issue a formal protest, describing the incident as part of a pattern of “reckless and dangerous behavior” by Moscow.

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