It continues to increase. Lithuaniaone of the member countries of the Atlantic Alliance, has warned that the country presided over by Vladimir Putin is carrying out a hybrid warfare campaign.
Specifically, Lithuanian officials have assured that Moscow is using swarms of balloons that are reaching its airspacewhich represents a significant security problem for the .
It is worth remembering that Lithuania shares a border of about 660 kilometers with Aleksandr Lukashenko’s Belarusone of Putin’s main partners. Furthermore, the Lithuanian territory It is also bordering the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad.
Throughout the last year, at least 550 balloons allegedly launched from Belarus have been intercepted by Lithuania. those balloons They transported contraband cigarettes and GPS trackers.
What is worrying, according to Lithuania, is that in the future balloons (which can reach altitudes of 26,000 feet and are virtually impossible to shoot down with drones and guns) They could be equipped with spy cameras and even explosives.
In that sense, the British media states that of those 550 balloons detected during the last year, Lithuania has only been able to shoot down around 28%.
The balloons, whose presence has increased considerably since October, have forced Lithuania to close Vilnius International Airport nine times over the past two months.
From Belarus they deny having any relationship with the launch of the balloons and they accuse smugglers of being the authors of the events. However, Lithuania highlights that Lukashenko could prevent these balloons from reaching its airspace and he does not do so.
Consequently, the Lithuanian authorities emphasize that balloon launches are one of the edges of a hybrid war promoted from Moscow whose objective is to unleash fear in Europe.
