Lithuania drafts civilian evacuation scheme routing refugees through Poland

Lithuania’s civil defence department has finalized a protocol for evacuating civilians should danger arise near the border, especially around Vilnius, which lies roughly 40 km from Belarus. The scheme specifies that evacuation should commence before any direct fire reaches the city, with private motorists following pre-marked routes and municipal governments providing transport for those unable to travel independently.

Besides a corridor into Poland, alternative paths head north toward Poniewież and Szawle and west toward Kowno and Kłajpeda. The decision to evacuate all or part of Vilnius rests with the mayor and could be escalated to the national government. On the Polish side, the Podlaskie voivodeship is preparing to act as a transit corridor, involving all local governments, as part of broader security preparations by the Ministry of Interior and Administration.