On Wednesday night, a curfew was introduced for the first time in free Lithuania. Fortunately, only for practice, only for one night and only in some areas: in the capital – in the territory of Viršuliškii and Aukštėsii Panarii, in Kaunas – in the Palemon district. The special cars intended for the exercise were stopped by commandant marksmen. Staged provocations and incidents, training on how to behave in various situations during the curfew. At that time, police officers were checking the documents and their cars of passing civilians.
In Viršuliškės and Aukšės Paneris, about half a dozen commandant shooters tested how they would behave during similar provocations. Everything happened on Tuesday from 10 p.m. until 5 o’clock morning
“In the beginning, there were some peaceful demonstrations, rallies, provocations. Later, they turned into specific military actions, let’s say, hybrid attacks were replaced by kinetic attacks, shelling, attacks. Their intensity is constantly increasing, sometimes decreasing,” said Lukas Vaičiulis, commander of Vilnius commandant riflemen.
Volunteers of the National Guard also practiced how the services would interact with each other after the introduction of martial law. One of the tasks is the protection of seven strategic objects of the city.
“The objects are related to critical infrastructure, i.e. “Vilniaus Vandenys”, “Grinda”, “Šilumas Tinklai”, “Vilnius Public Transport”, Emergency Medical Service Station and Vilnius Municipality”, said L. Vaičiulis.
The entire LNK report is in the video:
Although the traffic was not closed, several dozen police officers checked passing civilians. For one BMW driver, the exercise took a toll. After searching the vehicle, officers found narcotics, possibly cannabis, a jar with residue and a metal chopper. A few drunk drivers also got caught. A total of 700 cars were checked.
In the exercises, in addition to planned provocations intended for training, there were also real ones.
“A certain Kremlin propaganda narrative. The aim is to undermine our determination to defend ourselves, it’s a pity, we will have to be disappointed, we will still defend ourselves”, explained L. Vaičiulis.
True, pro-Kremlin actors expressed themselves mostly on the Internet.
“The vast majority are brave at the keyboard when they write some comments. He promised to come and break us muzzle“, said L. Vaičiulis.
A curfew has also been announced in Kaunas and Palemon. Residents, after arriving at the checkpoint, assessed the exercise differently. Some said they felt safer, others complained that their freedom of movement was restricted.
“Nonsense is complete. Citizens’ freedoms are restricted, you can’t pass on the street,” the man said.
“We knew beforehand. If we didn’t know, maybe it would be worse. We are glad that it is being prepared”, said the interlocutors.
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No major incidents with residents have been recorded in Kaunas.
The exercises simulate situations that would be most realistic in real life. For example, a car is stopped in which a pregnant woman and a man are found. While the woman explains that she is in a hurry to the hospital, the soldiers find out that the man next to her is not who he says he is.
“Wife’s year of birth?” I can already see that it’s not your wife, her eyes betray her, she runs away. Please stretch out your hands,” said the shooter.
Exercises in Kaunas are strategic. They took place on the territory of an important facility – the intermodal terminal, which is one of the most important cargo transportation and logistics centers in the Baltic region.
“All cameras at this facility are monitored. A foot patrol is being carried out, which walks around the object and informs about any suspicious movement”, said Andrius Samosevas, deputy commander of the exercise.
In case of unrest in Kaunas, several special objects would be protected – the municipality, hydroelectric power station, S. Darius and S. Girėnos airfield.
“We protect the companies that provide heat, electricity, water, we support the municipality,” emphasized Gintaras Jaloveckas, Kaunas City Commandant.
The last time training on how to behave after the introduction of a curfew took place in Lithuania was before joining NATO.
“We will look at what should be improved, done better, or maybe completely differently. That first pancake is not cooked. There were no major misunderstandings, society accepted it in different ways”, said Valdemaras Rupšys, Commander of the Lithuanian Armed Forces.
The Minister of National Defense, Laurynas Kasčiūnas, emphasized that such exercises will help define how much capacity the commandant’s offices will need.
“Apparently, the list of objects that need to be protected will be larger than it was in the exercise. Now, for the next stages, it will be necessary to take stock of a clearer picture of the objects and calculate according to that”, asserted L. Kasčiūnas.
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The municipality also received separate tasks.
“The exercises were very useful. Moving from the paper plans and seeing how everything would actually and physically work,” said Vilnius Mayor Valdas Benkunskas.
“We are much better prepared, we understand the scope better, we know who to talk to in the municipality and what issues. Also with other institutions”, explained the head of the Military Command, Almantas Leika.
When people saw soldiers with guns in the evening and didn’t have full information, we had a lot of calls to the police asking what was going on.
It is true that everyone agrees that it should be corrected by informing the population, because some of the population panicked when they saw armed soldiers on the street.
“When people saw soldiers with weapons in the evening and did not have complete information, we had many calls to the police asking what was going on,” emphasized V. Benkunskas.
All this is part of the largest national exercise “Thunderstorm” taking place in Lithuania. On Wednesday, the president also took part in the exercise, this time as a participant and not an observer.
“I was deciding what issues to solve first, what decisions to make. Maybe some of those events were hypothetical, nevertheless, it was necessary to activate our appeal to NATO, in what way, when, who should follow what,” asserted President G. Nausėda.
The President visited the strategic and joint forces headquarters on Wednesday.
