Factbox-What are the smuggling balloons that have disrupted air traffic in Lithuania?

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By Andrius Sytas

VILNIUS, Dec 9 (Reuters) – Smuggling balloons drifting over the Belarusian border have forced repeated shutdowns at the airport in Lithuania’s capital Vilnius, in what authorities call a “hybrid attack” by Belarus, a Kremlin ally.

Since October, the airport just 30 km (19 miles) from Belarus has closed more than a dozen times, disrupting hundreds of flights and affecting thousands of passengers. On Tuesday, Lithuania declared a state of emergency, underscoring escalating tensions between the two neighbours.

Here is what is known about these balloons:

WHAT ARE THEY?

The high-altitude balloons, filled with helium or hydrogen, fly where the wind takes them but their altitude can be controlled remotely from the ground.

Typically used by meteorologists to probe stratospheric conditions starting 15 km (9.3 miles) above ground, they have been repurposed to smuggle cheap Belarusian cigarettes into Lithuania. The practice surged after tighter border controls were imposed during a 2021 migrant crisis.

First spotted in 2023, the balloons became widespread in 2024, with several hundred recorded.

They pass over the border at an altitude of about 3-4 kilometres. The smugglers in Lithuania can then communicate with the balloon to track its location, and direct it to land.

A balloon typically carries 500 to 1,500 packs of cigarettes, with a pack costing less than a euro, versus 4.5 euros per similar brand in Lithuania.

WHAT DO THEY LOOK LIKE?

Border guard photos show large, teardrop-shaped balloons of thin, latex-like material, either semi-transparent or white, tethered to a rectangular crate likely holding contraband and a GPS tracker. Lithuanian media report they measure about three metres when inflated, though Reuters has not verified this.

WHY ARE THE BALLOONS A PROBLEM?

Authorities say the balloons fly at a similar height to airliners approaching an airport, raising the risk of collisions. 

Local rules for what constitutes a mid-air risk have recently been upgraded, and the balloons now frequently qualify.

Lithuanian authorities have fine-tuned their detection systems and have been able to better identify whether the flight paths of any identified balloons pose a threat to civil aviation.

Since October, Vilnius Airport has been closed for more than 60 hours due to the threat posed by smuggling balloons, impacting more than 350 flights and approximately 51,000 passengers, according to the interior ministry.

WHAT HAPPENS TO THE CIGARETTES?

Lithuania says smuggled cigarettes are typically manufactured in Belarus and many are consumed in Lithuania.

The Lithuanian Border Guard confiscated 1.4 million packs of illicit cigarettes in 2024, of which 1.2 million packs were marked for sale in Belarus.

WHAT IS BELARUS’ POSITION?

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko says Lithuania is exaggerating incidents with smuggler balloons but that Minsk does not want a war with its neighbours.

He called Lithuania’s earlier closure of the border, which lasted several weeks, a “crazy scam” and, in turn, accused the West of waging a hybrid war against Belarus and Russia.

Belarus, which allowed its territory to be used for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, has accused Lithuania of deploying a drone to spy on it and drop “extremist material”. Vilnius has rejected this charge.

WHY AREN’T THE BALLOONS SHOT DOWN?

The Lithuanian government initially said they were not being shot down because of the danger to lives or property posed by their heavy payloads.

Officials have since authorised the use of “kinetic measures”, but Lithuania’s chief of defence said the army had not yet found cost-effective methods to identify and bring down balloons.

(Reporting by Andrius Sytas in Vilnius; editing by Mark Heinrich and Ros Russell)