"These Are Not Random Events."

• 31.10.2025, 13:15

It's not just about weather probes.

Who is behind the weather probe attacks on Lithuania? This question was asked by Charter97.org to former political prisoner, coordinator of the civil campaign "European Belarus" Evgeny Afnagel:

- Belarusian special services coordinate their activities with Russian ones, they are allies. Without their knowledge and participation such large-scale operations (I remind you, the balloons appeared simultaneously in different areas of Lithuania) is impossible to conduct. Besides, it's not just about meteosondes. Over the past two months, Lithuanian airspace has also been violated by drones and airplanes. In September, there was an attack on Poland, wrecks of Russian drones were found in Latvia.

These are not random events, but links of one chain - part of the hybrid war, which the Belarusian and Russian regimes are waging against Europe. The goals may vary - from analyzing the reaction to such events on the part of the neighboring countries of Belarus, the EU and NATO to probing the air defense system and intelligence.

In addition, one should not forget about the direct damage: during one week alone, Vilnius airport was forced to stop work four times, dozens of flights were canceled, airlines suffered losses. Route changes caused delays and inconvenience for passengers. I think that already now many tourists are thinking about whether it is worth flying to Lithuania in the near future.