Belarus accuses Lithuania of using drone to spy and drop ‘extremist material’

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MOSCOW, Dec 1 (Reuters) – Belarus on Monday accused Lithuania of using a drone to spy on it and drop “extremist material,” a charge that Vilnius rejected as false.

The row comes amid strained tensions between the two countries after Vilnius airport said on Sunday it was forced to halt flights due to suspected balloons in Lithuanian airspace, the latest in a series of flight disruptions in the Baltic nation.

Lithuania has said weather balloons flown by smugglers are transporting contraband cigarettes, and blames Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko for allowing the practice.

The Belarusian Interior Ministry accused Lithuania of being behind the purported drone incident.

“Yesterday, a UAV (drone) of unknown origin was found on one of the streets of Grodno,” it said, referring to a city of some 360,000 in western Belarus.

“During the inspection by the police, it was found that the drone is equipped with a photo and video camera with the ability to collect intelligence data. In addition, extremist printed materials were dropped from the drone.”

The ministry published photographs of a small drone lying on the pavement. Small white-red-white flags, which are widely used as symbols of opposition to Lukashenko, were next to the drone.

Specialists had determined that the drone was launched from Kapciamiestis, a village in Lithuania near the borders with Belarus and Poland, the ministry said.

A spokesperson for Lithuania’s National Crisis Management Centre denied that Vilnius had sent the drone to spy on Belarus.

“It is not the first time the Belarusian regime is inventing stories and hurling accusations at Western countries and Lithuania,” the spokesperson told Reuters.

(Reporting by Maxim Rodionov in London and Andrius Sytas in Vilnius; Writing by Gleb Stolyarov/Lucy Papachristou; Editing by Andrew Osborn)