Lithuania and Poland are drawing up evacuation plans to prepare for the possibility of a full-scale war with Russia.
The preparations include procedures, logistics and infrastructure planning, as well as potential civilian evacuation routes through the Suwalki Gap.
Described as Nato’s “Achilles heel”, the Suwalki Gap is a roughly 60-mile stretch of land connecting Poland and Lithuania. Nato military leaders fear it could become a target for an attack ordered by Vladimir Putin.
The corridor runs between Belarus, a close ally of Moscow, and Russia’s Kaliningrad exclave.
If Russian forces moved from Belarus across the gap to Kaliningrad, the Kremlin could potentially cut Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania off from their allies in central and western Europe.
Vilnius and Warsaw are working on a bilateral agreement that would establish the framework for the evacuation plans, according to Lithuania’s National Crisis Management Centre.
The announcement came as Lithuania began nationwide emergency drills, including exercises to test evacuation procedures along its border with Poland.
Moscow has increasingly tested Nato’s resolve through a series of suspected covert attacks targeting countries on or near the alliance’s borders.
A man watches his home burn after it was hit by falling debris during a Russian drone attack on September 27, 2026, in Kyiv, Ukraine
Lithuania and Poland are preparing evacuation plans in case of a full-scale war with Russia
Vilmantas Vitkauskas, head of Lithuania’s National Crisis Management Centre, said: “Procedures, logistics and infrastructure capabilities are being analysed together with colleagues from Poland, and the plan itself should be developed once an agreement is reached between the two countries.”
He said the arrangements would also include provisions for evacuating civilians from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
Authorities are also considering border controls if a threat emerges, both to support mobilisation and to “prevent people in certain key roles from leaving the country”.
Around 20 Polish officials were sent to Lithuania for exercises testing border procedures. The wider drills involve about 3,000 officials and 1,000 volunteers and are scheduled to continue until October 2.
ALSO READ: Mother and Two Small Children Discovered Deceased at Their North Carolina Residence – NewsFinale
Earlier this month, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said intelligence assessments indicated that Russia was preparing “plans for hybrid strikes using drones and missiles against countries supporting Ukraine, including Poland”.
He warned that the “provocations” were “far more dangerous than those we have faced so far”.
Russia is suspected of involvement in covert attacks against several sites in Nato countries, including a warehouse in Britain, a weapons factory in Estonia and an airport in Germany.
On September 18, airports in Rzeszów and Lublin, Poland, suspended operations after Moscow launched an attack on western Ukraine just miles from the Nato border.
The incident was the latest in a series of Russian strikes near Poland’s border in recent months.
Western intelligence officials told The Telegraph that Putin is preparing a “stealth mobilisation” following the State Duma elections, potentially allowing thousands of Russians to be drafted.
The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said Moscow may eventually have to change its recruitment methods and introduce some form of involuntary reserve call-up if it continues suffering casualties at the current rate.
The Russian leader is said to have been backed into a corner, with the military having suffered 1.5 million casualties, including 500,000 fatalities in Ukraine, and his invasion effectively at a stalemate.
Meanwhile, European leaders have warned that the Kremlin’s hybrid war against the West is likely to intensify ‘in months, not years’.
On Thursday morning, four Russian drones breached Moldova’s airspace.
Maia Sandu, the president of Moldova, wrote on X: ‘Russia’s massive attack on Ukraine reached Moldova again this morning. Four Russian drones violated our airspace, and at least one exploded in the north. Russia’s war endangers all of Europe.’
Earlier this week, the CIA warned of a Russian operation using seaborne drones against targets in Spain, France or Italy.
The attacks would see Russia fire 600 km-range drones from commercial ships, hitting ports, airports and other infrastructure, according to El Mundo, the Spanish newspaper.