Lithuania Won't Surrender to Russia, PM Vows Amid Threats

(MENAFN) Lithuania has mapped out evacuation strategies to prepare for a possible Russian attack, Prime Minister Mindaugas Sinkevicius disclosed in an interview with the BBC — while making clear his country "will not surrender" if hostilities reach its borders.

In remarks made Tuesday, Sinkevicius described a population that feels "constantly threatened" by Russia, citing recurring drone violations of Lithuanian airspace as a key driver of that anxiety.

Were an attack to occur, Lithuania's response would not be passive, he warned: "we will fight back... we will engage." Still, he noted that officials have mapped out preparations for a "variety of scenarios" — including protocols to evacuate elderly residents from cities "smoothly" and without triggering heavy traffic backups.

As a NATO member state, Lithuania directly borders Kaliningrad, the Russian exclave wedged along its frontier.

"We're thinking about a variety of scenarios, not all of them are being discussed very much publicly," Sinkevicius said.

"We face concrete threats, not on a daily basis, but we're experiencing them and it's a true reality for us."

He also pressed the case that the UK needs a "shift in the mindset" on defense strategy, while granting that Lithuania's geography puts it "closer to the border and closer to [the] threat."
The interview follows closely on the heels of a NATO fighter jet operation that downed a drone after it crossed into Lithuanian airspace roughly a week earlier.

The drone's origin has yet to be officially verified, but Lithuania's Defense Minister, Robertas Kaunas, told Newshour it had traveled in from the direction of Belarus — a nation bordering Lithuania that maintains close ties with Russia.

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