Director of the National Crisis Management Centre (NKVC), Vilmantas Vitkauskas, urges the public and businesses to undertake preventive measures.
“The level of threat is rather high. We would urge the public to remain vigilant. We have consulted and given certain recommendations to both companies and security firms responsible for the protection of individual buildings. Work is constantly ongoing – we consult and advise to raise the level of vigilance, to slightly increase patrolling in public buildings,” he told the media Friday.
“As witnessed in neighbouring countries, the threat of arson exists in Lithuania, too. Therefore, we invite companies and security firms to be very alert, to monitor the situation, and report possible suspicious incidents,” said Vitkauskas.
According to him, recommendations should be relevant to all businesses, especially those involved in trade, aid to Ukraine, as well as production and trade of flammable materials.
The official added that the police and other agencies responsible for public safety raised their alert level several weeks ago. Companies are encouraged to take measures to ensure the security of their buildings and to test and properly maintain their firefighting systems.
The NKVC has issued recommendations on prevention of provocations. The centre stated that enhanced physical and cyber security of companies would significantly reduce the threat of hybrid operations. He added that incidents and arson could especially occur at night, therefore, vigilance should be maintained 24/7.
Furthermore, the NKVC stated that provocations are organised on the social network Telegram, where people are offered money for carrying out information, cyber or kinetic attacks.
“So far we have not detected such recruitment in the Lithuanian language, but this does not mean that it will not appear today or tomorrow,” said Vitkauskas.
He noted that recent incidents abroad and in Lithuania were not caused by locals. He asked people to inform the police in case they notice suspicious activity on Telegram and other social networks.
Asked about cases of arson, Vitkauskas mentioned a fire at Ikea shopping centre last week. The director said both the incident and materials that were on fire point to aforementioned threats. He added that similar incidents have occurred in Poland, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom.
As reported, a fire erupted at Ikea in Vilnius last week and arson is suspected. The store was closed for one day afterwards and a pre-trial investigation was opened into destruction of property in a generally dangerous manner.
