Last night saw areas of Vilnius and Kaunas placed under curfew as part of military exercises conducted by Lithuania. Running from 10 p.m. on Tuesday till 5 a.m. on Wednesday morning, the exercise was aimed at checking institutional and organizational readiness in the event of a national emergency.
Notifying the public in advance, the districts of Viršuliškės and Aukštieji Paneriai in Vilnius and the Palemonas in Kaunas were locked down as troops swept the area.
“I heard about it [in advance],” said one local. “A colleague told me about it, and I read some articles online but didn’t look too much into it. We just laughed that we would have to walk the dog before 10 p.m. to avoid being checked,” she told LRT.lt.
The woman added that residents had responded well to the exercise. “I think it’s very useful for people to understand how these things will unfold so that there are no doubts on Day X,” she said.
Major Donatas Suchockis, head of the Military-Civilian Cooperation of the Defence Headquarters, told LRT RADIO that the curfew was put in place to allow units to train for territorial or hybrid threats. The curfew was part of wider exercises conducted by the Lithuanian Armed Forces as part of this year’s Thunder Storm operation.
Regarded as one of the nation’s largest-ever military drills, the exercise was planned to train Lithuanians to adapt quickly to a war footing. Involving around 4,000 troops, as well as members of the Riflemen’s Union, the exercises will run until May 10.
“I heard about it [in advance],” said one local. “A colleague told me about it, and I read some articles online but didn’t look too much into it. We just laughed that we would have to walk the dog before 10 p.m. to avoid being checked,” she told LRT.lt.
The woman added that residents had responded well to the exercise. “I think it’s very useful for people to understand how these things will unfold so that there are no doubts on Day X,” she said.
Major Donatas Suchockis, head of the Military-Civilian Cooperation of the Defence Headquarters, told LRT RADIO that the curfew was put in place to allow units to train for territorial or hybrid threats. The curfew was part of wider exercises conducted by the Lithuanian Armed Forces as part of this year’s Thunder Storm operation.
Regarded as one of the nation’s largest-ever military drills, the exercise was planned to train Lithuanians to adapt quickly to a war footing. Involving around 4,000 troops, as well as members of the Riflemen’s Union, the exercises will run until May 10.
Source: lrt.lt
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