Lithuanian border guards discovered an unfinished tunnel near Pertakas village on the Belarus-Lithuania border, believed to be intended for migrant crossings from Belarus.

Population & Migration ToolsWeaponized MigrationCoordinated migrant flows to destabilize

Aggressor

Summary

Lithuanian border guards detected an unfinished tunnel approximately 11 meters long near Pertakas village in the Lazdijai district on the border with Belarus. The tunnel was designed to pass under the patrol path further inside Lithuanian territory. Vibration sensors detected digging activity near a stream marking the border. Upon arrival, border guards caused around 20 foreign nationals to flee back into Belarus. At the site, logs for structural support, excavated sand, and buckets were found before the tunnel was filled in. This is the second such tunneling detection in one week, with VSAT chief Rustamas Liubajevas attributing the operation to involvement from Belarusian border guards.

Classification

Confidence: High

The construction of tunnels on the Belarus-Lithuania border for migrant crossings is a coercive hybrid tactic designed to circumvent border controls and destabilize Lithuania's border security, with official attribution blaming Belarusian border guard involvement.

Source URL

https://lrt.lt/en/news-in-english/19/3005265/lithuania-finds-unfinished-tunnel-for-suspected-migrant-crossings-from-belarus

Open source

Provenance

Publisher: extension
Submitted: Jul 29, 2026, 12:32 UTC
Last updated: Nov 4, 2026, 08:36 UTC
Event time: Jul 26, 2026, 18:00 UTC

Published as a hybrid-warfare signal with a public source and reviewer-approved assessment bands. See the methodology for how records are assessed.

Raw record

{
  "id": "fd68c7b0-ce48-42e9-90fd-8fdad5a01e1c",
  "url": "https://lrt.lt/en/news-in-english/19/3005265/lithuania-finds-unfinished-tunnel-for-suspected-migrant-crossings-from-belarus",
  "source": "extension",
  "status": "approved",
  "category": "Population & Migration Tools",
  "subcategory": "Weaponized Migration",
  "incident_type": "Coordinated migrant flows to destabilize",
  "country": "Lithuania",
  "source_reliability": "B",
  "info_credibility": "2",
  "tags": [
    "migrant smuggling",
    "border security",
    "Belarus",
    "Lithuania",
    "hybrid tactics",
    "tunnel crossing"
  ],
  "nodes": [],
  "countries": [
    "Lithuania"
  ],
  "where_text": "Land",
  "headline": null,
  "description": "Lithuanian border guards detected an unfinished tunnel approximately 11 meters long near Pertakas village in the Lazdijai district on the border with Belarus. The tunnel was designed to pass under the patrol path further inside Lithuanian territory. Vibration sensors detected digging activity near a stream marking the border. Upon arrival, border guards caused around 20 foreign nationals to flee back into Belarus. At the site, logs for structural support, excavated sand, and buckets were found before the tunnel was filled in. This is the second such tunneling detection in one week, with VSAT chief Rustamas Liubajevas attributing the operation to involvement from Belarusian border guards.",
  "summary_short": "Lithuanian border guards discovered an unfinished tunnel near Pertakas village on the Belarus-Lithuania border, believed to be intended for migrant crossings from Belarus.",
  "summary_extended": null,
  "actor_primary": "Belarusian border guards",
  "target_primary": null,
  "location_text": "Near the village of Pertakas, Lazdijai district, Lithuanian-Belarus border",
  "location_region": "Lazdijai district",
  "location_coordinates_lat": 54.3039,
  "location_coordinates_lon": 25.4688,
  "location_precision": "Exact",
  "is_aggressor_signal": true,
  "signal_type": "HYBRID_SIGNAL",
  "is_hybrid_war_signal": true,
  "classification_complete": true,
  "hybrid_signal_complete": true,
  "classification_confidence": "High",
  "classification_rationale": "The construction of tunnels on the Belarus-Lithuania border for migrant crossings is a coercive hybrid tactic designed to circumvent border controls and destabilize Lithuania's border security, with official attribution blaming Belarusian border guard involvement.",
  "event_time_utc": "2026-07-26T18:00:00.000Z",
  "end_time_utc": null,
  "event_time_confidence": "unknown",
  "created_at": "2026-07-29T12:32:01.151Z",
  "updated_at": "2026-11-04T08:36:03.522Z",
  "reliability_band": "strong",
  "location_precision_band": "exact",
  "time_precision_band": "unknown",
  "severity_band": "moderate",
  "attribution_confidence_band": "high",
  "attribution_basis": "single_source"
}

Public assessmentReliability: StrongSeverity: ModerateAttribution: HighSingle sourceTime: UnknownLocation: Exact

Source reliability

Info credibility

Event time

Jul 26, 2026, 18:00 UTC

Event time confidence

unknown

Location

Near the village of Pertakas, Lazdijai district, Lithuanian-Belarus border

Region

Lazdijai district

Primary actor

Belarusian border guards

Country

Lithuania

Countries

Lithuania

Tags

migrant smuggling, border security, Belarus, Lithuania, hybrid tactics, tunnel crossing

Loading signal...

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