The city of Vilniusunveiled a wartime evacuation plan on Wednesday as the Baltic country states it is bracing for prospective risks from Russia amid its continuous intrusion of Ukraine.The plan outlines three primary evacuation paths heading west, as the opponent has historically originated from the east, Vilnius Mayor Valdas Benkunskas said at a press conference.We do not wish to trigger panic, Benkunskas said.
Our goal is clear: to have a strategy, to have coordination between institutions, to understand who is accountable for what and to trust our defense forces ...
hoping that this plan will never ever require to be activated.A member of NATO and the European Union, Lithuania has actually been a company supporter of Ukraine since Russia introduced its full-blown intrusion in 2022.
In action, it has actually substantially increased defense costs and preparedness.Vilnius, situated simply 30 kilometers (19 miles) from the Belarusian border, prepares to hold evacuation drills this coming fall.Lithuanian officials have actually expressed concern that Russia might use Belarus as a launchpad for aggressiveness against the Baltic nation, just as it had done before the major intrusion of Ukraine.Russia and Belarus are scheduled to conduct their joint Zapad military workouts in September.
Previous versions have actually brought 10s of thousands of soldiers near the borders of Poland and the Baltic states.City officials said Vilnius, home to over 600,000 residents, could be left within 48 hours if necessary.The strategy also deals with non-military threats, including natural disasters or mishaps at the Ostrovets nuclear reactor in Belarus, located approximately 50 kilometers (31 miles) from Vilnius.The Russian-built center has long raised security issues in Lithuania, which has actually conducted decontamination drills and distributed iodide tablets to residents.Lithuania has actually repeatedly called the plant unsafe, an allegation both Minsk and Moscow reject.