From May 7, 10 p.m. to May 8, 5 a.m. morning, in the territories of Vilnius Viršuliškii and Aukštiių Paneriai and Kaunas Palemons, the curfew units are trained on how to behave after the introduction of curfew – curfew units, together with the Lithuanian Police, carried out control of the territory, protection of objects, and inspection of transport.
When officers stop civilians, they are asked to show their driver’s license, they are tested for sobriety, and their car is inspected.
At that time, after the shooters stopped the cars participating in the exercises marked with a special sign, they were asked to submit permission to be in the territory during the curfew.
When weapons were allegedly found in the car participating in the exercise, the shouts of the commando shooters “everyone is under arrest, weapons have been found, on their knees” were heard. At that time, the detained participants had to stumble and hold their hands behind their heads.
In the “Thunderstorm 2024” exercise, the Lithuanian army and all state institutions trained to transition from peacetime to wartime.
Other violations were found during the raid
According to Lukas Vaičiulis, commander of Vilnius commandant riflemen, a lot of pro-Kremlin narrative is observed in the public space during the exercises. According to him, the officers enforcing the curfew are threatened to “come and punch them in the face”.
However, police officers conducting a routine raid during the curfew encountered at least a few civilians who exceeded the legal limit.
While journalists were watching the raid in Viršuliškės, narcotic substances were unexpectedly found in one car, and the guy who had them was temporarily detained and escorted to the officers’ car.
According to the exercise scenario, the commando units learned to counter the provocations of individuals that turned into military actions – drone attacks. The explosions were staged here, and firefighters were called in to put out the subsequent fire. First aid for wounded soldiers is also simulated.
Important objects are protected
As previously announced, the exercises of the Lithuanian army and NATO allies are taking place in the capital and Kaunas on May 6-8. During the exercise, the readiness of institutions, bodies and organizations to carry out mobilization and the tasks of receiving allies, requisitioning of property and the announcement of a curfew are checked.
“We received a list of objects that need to be defended. There are seven of them in total. The facilities are related to critical infrastructure, i.e. “Vilniaus Vandenys”, “Grinda”, “Šilumos Tinklai”, “Vilnius Public Transport”, Emergency Medical Service Station and Vilnius Municipality. An additional object is our headquarters,” L. Vaičiulis told journalists in Viršuliškės.
According to the commander of the army, Valdemars Rupšis, a total of more than 20 thousand soldiers will train in Lithuania. national and allied troops.
2.5 thousand people were called to participate in the exercise. active reserve soldiers, several thousand more invited for a short background check procedure. The commandant system will also be tested during the exercise.
ELTA reminds that NATO started the largest military exercise since the Cold War in January of this year. As previously announced, the exercises are designed to simulate NATO’s response to an attack by a rival such as Russia. They will involve 50 ships, 80 aircraft and more than 1,100 combat vehicles. The military maneuvers are being carried out as NATO reorganizes its defenses following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
