The head of the National Crisis Management Centre, Vilmantas Vitkauskas, said on LRT that the smugglers’ meteorological-balloon incursion was the most intense in November. From Sunday to Monday, Vilnius Airport suspended operations twice.
“We had perhaps the most stressful night of the entire month of November because the launches of meteorological balloons began at about 17:00 from Belarus and continued until 02:00,” Vitkauskas said.
According to him, radar detected more than 40 traces characteristic of balloons. He explained that the closure of the airspace was due to the duration and intensity of the launches. By morning, six balloons carrying contraband had been found on the ground.
Vitkauskas noted that similar traces were recorded by Latvian radar services.
“It is probably also very important to note that this entire attack has likely taken on a broader geographical scale, and as far as we know, our Latvian neighbours also received more than 30 alerts on their radars,” he added.
In his view, the problem is becoming regional.
Vilnius Airport suspended operations from 18:55 to 00:25, and then from 01:40 to 03:25. Thirteen flights were cancelled, and six flights were diverted to Kaunas.