Up to 25 small hot-air balloons, some of them confirmed to carry smuggled cigarettes, entered Lithuanian airspace late on Saturday night and forced them to shut down Dish Officials said the airport, delaying flights for hours, said.
According to the National Crisis Management Center in Lithuania, the balloon intervened with 30 flights affecting some 6,000 passengers. Flights of 4:50 am on Sunday (0150 GMT) started again.
While the balloons came out while having cigarette, Europe After infiltration into the airspace of NATO is on high alert, which reached an unprecedented scale last month. Some European authorities described the events as Moscow’s testing NATO response, raising questions about how the alliance against Russia is ready.
Lithuania and the rest are particularly concerned. On July 10, a drone was identified as a Russian-made Gerbera Bellorus And crashed in Villanius County.
On July 28, a military training crashed in the ground and found a week later. The army later said it was carrying an explosive equipment. Following those incidents, Parliament voted for the armed forces to allow any unmanned drone to be shot.
18,000 pack cigarettes of smuggling recovered
Two According to spokesperson Darius Bata, the balloon flew over the Villanius airport. More than two dozen widespread Villanius arrived at the county. The balloon was recorded to fly at around 8:45 am on Saturday and between 4:30 am on Sunday.
The border police recovered 11 balloons and some 18,000 packs of smuggling at various places, Bata told the Associated Press.
Villanius, the capital of Lithuania, is located at a distance of about 40 kilometers (25 mi) to the west of the border with Russian ally Belarus. Belarusi smugglers are using rapid balloons, which are much cheap than drones, for smuggling cigarettes in the European Union, Bata said.
Similar incidents, but with low balloons, were reported in August. Last year, 966 hot-air balloons entering from Belarus were intercepted by Lithuanian officials. 544 have been recorded this year.
“Both smuggled balloons and drones are criminal activities, but not as provocative or as a sabotage acts,” Bata said.