Lithuania's Prime Minister Mindaugas Sinkevičius has told the BBC that his country will "fight back" if attacked by Russia, whilst simultaneously confirming that evacuation plans have been prepared for various scenarios. The statement reflects Lithuania's precarious security situation, given that it shares a land border with Russia's Kaliningrad enclave and has experienced repeated drone incursions into its airspace, with residents forced to take shelter on multiple occasions. This matters because Lithuania is a NATO member, meaning any Russian attack would trigger the alliance's collective defence obligations under Article 5.

The security concerns are underscored by concrete recent incidents. NATO fighter jets shot down a drone that entered Lithuanian airspace just a week before the PM's interview, with Lithuanian Defence Minister Robertas Kaunas indicating it came from the direction of Belarus, Russia's key ally. Military drone incursions have become increasingly common across Europe since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, with NATO jets also scrambling multiple times to intercept stray Ukrainian drones that have crossed into Estonia and Latvia. Lithuania, along with Estonia and Latvia, joined NATO in 2004 and thus fall under the mutual defence provision.