How is Lithuania preparing for the worst – war?

Amid increasing alarmism over Russia’s plans for the Baltic states, Lithuania has been preparing for that potentiality since at least the 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine. LRT English breaks down the key changes and initiatives taking place across the different layers of society.

​The Armed Forces

Lithuania’s military had to essentially be reconstructed following the deep cuts in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. What followed were years of reconstitution that included deep-pocket purchases, including tanks and armoured vehicles, and ultimately culminated in the establishment of a division that brings the country’s three main brigades into its fold.

Some problems persist – at least one of the brigades is nowhere near full completion, while tank purchases were criticised for diverting hundreds of millions of euros into bulky machinery instead of cheaper, more mass-produced things like strike drones.

Recently, the Armed Forces established ANBO, a military cluster bringing together the different branches of the military working on autonomous systems. The forces also worked overtime during the biggest exercise of 2026 – Strong Griffon – to showcase them adopting lessons from Ukraine, including fielding ground drones, various types of UAVs, or constructing anti-drone nets and building bunkers.

Society-wide defence

This mostly rests on the civilian-paramilitary Riflemen’s Union, which brings together thousands of people in most of the country’s cities and towns ready to take up arms, or do different tasks – from civil defence and medical aid, to evacuation support and cybersecurity. Notably, the organisation is growing at pace and will now have three specialised drone battalions alone.
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The country also has a civilian reserve, which includes professions like doctors and teachers. Until recently, the civilian reserve was just another concept on paper, but its role was recently clarified amid ongoing mobilisation scenario drills.

NGOs and civil resistance

Organisations like the Red Cross are bringing together volunteers to assist in case of a crisis, with the aim of finding a place for every person seeking to get involved in defence. Some organisations and institutions are also launching their own initiatives – examples include art students putting together a guide book on how to wage civil resistance.
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Meanwhile, several hundred thousand people have already attended civil resistance courses at the military academy, while thousands more took drone piloting courses.

​Military reserves and conscription

Lithuania’s military reserves are made up of a 40,000-strong “active” reserve force, which are bolstered by the yearly intake of 5,000 conscripts. Fifteen years later, they are moved to the “prepared” reserve force of around 80,000 people that had prior military training.

In case of war, the “active” reserve would fold into the main military force, while most of the “prepared” reserve, alongside some units of the Riflemen’s Union, would be moved to assist the Commendant’s Offices.

​Komendantūros (Commandant's Offices)

In 2024, the military founded the Commendant’s Units (Komendantūros), which means those who have not yet served in the military or are not part of the Riflemen’s Union or the part-time, 6,000 strong Military Volunteer Defence Force (KASP), can join Komendantūros. They are ready to assist with specialised tasks to maintain law and order, like controlling checkpoints and defending key sites, and now number 1,800 troops.

The whole system is arguably complicated. As another case in point, the conscription service itself is further split into multiple layers, where some professionals – like cybersecurity and IT experts – can embark on alternative service models to better bring their skills into the military.

Those in favour of the existing system argue that it allows the country to truly become a hedgehog by finding everyone a place in the society-wide defence network. Read more about it here.

Air defences

With multiple drone incidents, Lithuania’s air defences have been under a steady stream of criticism. Despite one of Lithuania's two NASAMS batteries being deployed near Vilnius, as well as the NATO air defence mission and Lithuania’s own air defence units deployed near the border, drones – and smuggling balloons – continue to enter the country’s airspace.

There have been some initiatives – Lithuania will buy acoustic radars from Ukraine, as well as drone interceptors from the United States. A civilian initiative, Drone Radar, is also trying to build an alternative air monitoring system by having people around the country set up unused phones with a dedicated app to pick up on drone sounds. The app is already in operation, and it reportedly picked up on the Russian drone that entered Lithuania on September 15 that was ultimately shot down by NATO jets near Kaunas.

The Baltic Defence Line

The defensive line along the borders with Russia and Belarus has been under construction since at least 2024. The three Baltic countries are taking slightly different approaches, but the end result is largely similar.

Lithuania began by constructing so-called counter-mobility parks in key locations that house fortifications and can be placed on short notice. Furthermore, bridges were prepared for demolition near the border, some swamps and forests are being restored, while the country is also stocking up on anti-tank mines and, controversially, anti-personnel mines.
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Some areas have already been reinforced with the so-called dragon’s teeth, but critics point out that they are more for show, as they are often placed in highly visible areas – like the bridge that connects Lithuania with Russia’s Kaliningrad region.
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The end goal will be layered defences, not a continuous line of fortifications, with prepared firing positions and defences.

Shelters

Lithuania has been renewing its shelter network since 2022, with it finally being put to test with the country’s first air-raid alarm in May. Problems showed themselves immediately – many shelters were locked, existed on paper only or were full of clutter, while some people simply didn’t know where to find them.
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New legislation mandates that new apartment blocks – four floors or taller – have a shelter, with municipalities being given funds to upgrade their existing shelter networks. Their locations are also accessible on the government’s civil preparedness website, LT72.lt. You might also notice signs pointing to them around Lithuania’s towns and cities – a yellow square with a figure of a person under a roof. The writing says “priedanga”.

Stockpiling supplies

The State Reserve includes things like non-perishable food, as well as water, fuel, and medical supplies. It had also existed mostly on paper before the 2022 invasion, but is now being reinvigorated. In case of a crisis – and not only war – it can be handed out for those in need. For the first time, a small portion of it was activated during the 2026 mobilisation exercise, Vytis Vault (Vyčio skliautas).

Public broadcaster and media

LRT has been preparing by establishing underground broadcast stations, alternative locations, buying protective kits for journalists, as well as installing generators and Starlink satellite communication services to keep the services going. Other media services are also preparing by training their journalists to work in conflict environments and having contingency planning in place.

Hospitals

Lithuania;s hospitals have been holding drills on moving operating rooms underground and focusing on emergency care. Since 2022, there’s been a complete shift in their preparations – they are now practising being ready to take in a large number of casualties and set up the most important functions underground to protect from shelling. For example, the biggest hospital in Vilnius, Santaros, is expanding their underground network and planning to build a dual-use, fortified unit. In the most recent mobilisation drills, Santaros also coordinated the evacuation of patients from the border region, as well as the Vilnius hospital itself.

Evacuation

International headlines picked up on the evacuation plan that was approved in the summer. In case of an emergency, the government would evacuate the vulnerable segment of populations, mostly via the Suwalki Corridor to Poland. The neighbouring country's authorities are now assisting in drafting such plans.

Vilnius, located a mere 30 kilometres from the Belarusian border and around 50 km from the Russian-built nuclear plant, published its own evacuation plan back in April 2025. It foresees different evacuation corridors in different crises – it can be found here.

72 hours

Like the rest of the European Union, Lithuania is trying to get its residents to be prepared to survive a crisis independently for at least 72 hours. This includes stockpiling essential supplies and grab bags. This was recently put to a test when a severe storm knocked out power supplies in parts of the country, in some cases for days. Electricity generator sales surged, while some revisited the LT72.lt website for guidance.

Ukraine support

From pensioners weaving camouflage and volunteers assembling drones to taking cars and specialised equipment directly to the frontlines – people in Lithuania have been running support missions before and during Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. And it’s not a one-way street; the experience gained in an active war zone is shaping civil and military preparations back home. Additionally, this cooperation extends further into the defence industry sector, as well as into contacts between government institutions and the armed forces.

NATO, German, and US troops

And, of course, there’s NATO. Despite the uncertainty in Washington, allied troops continue to be stationed in Lithuania. Recently, among many more reassurance statements, a NATO commander said the alliance has 4,000 pages of plans on how to respond to different types of crises in the Baltics. Furthermore, Lithuania is due to host some 5,000 German troops as part of a permanent military presence in the country.