Lithuania has no evidence that the balloons were used for anything other than cigarette smuggling – border guards

The head of Lithuania’s border guard, Rustamas Ljubaevas, says there is no indication that the balloons that have violated the country’s airspace in recent years have been used for anything other than cigarette smuggling. He said this on the air of the state TV channel LRT on October 24.

According to him, such balloons are too unpredictable to be used for any other purpose.

“Our information and experience show that balloons have been used exclusively for smuggling until now. They cannot be controlled – they are completely dependent on the wind and weather conditions, which makes it very difficult to predict where they will land. That is why smugglers equip them with GPS transmitters, so that in the event of a bullet falling, the cargo can be found later,” he said.

Lyubaevas added that since the first sightings of smuggled balloons in 2023, there were no known cases of them being used to transport anything other than cigarettes.

Late in the evening on October 24, flights at the two largest airports in Lithuania were disrupted for several hours due to balloons arriving from Belarus. Flights resumed at night. This is the first incident involving the balloons, the third this month and the second this week.