Lithuania to call up 2,400 reservists for crisis defence drills

Lithuania will begin the state armed defence exercise “Perkūno griausmas 2026” on Thursday, testing the readiness of military headquarters and units and calling up as many as 2,400 active military personnel reserve soldiers, LRT reports.

The exercise will train the transition from peacetime to a crisis situation, including the activation of peacetime task units, the strengthening of border areas and critical infrastructure, and the activation of rapid response units to counter asymmetric threats, said Rear Admiral Giedrius Premeneckas, chief of the Lithuanian Armed Forces Defence Staff.

Up to 2,400 active reserve soldiers will be called to various Lithuanian military units during September and October. More than 5,000 other reservists will be contacted to update their contact details and other necessary information.

Premeneckas said the mobilisation component of the exercise would aim to make the process faster and smoother, improve the accuracy of reserve databases, and ensure that reservists know which units they must report to, when they must arrive and what they must bring. The process will also include health and security checks.

Military commandants will also be activated. In the municipalities assigned to them, they will train cooperation with Lithuanian military units and other institutions.

The exercise is designed to simulate real crisis conditions as closely as possible and test actions that could be required during an actual crisis. Its main objective is to prepare the country for armed defence by synchronising the actions of the Lithuanian Armed Forces, state institutions, municipalities and allies.

Premeneckas stressed that the exercise had been planned in advance and was not a direct response to the currently heightened threat level or hybrid activity by hostile states.

BNS reported that an Italian fighter aircraft based in Šiauliai shot down a drone that entered Lithuania from Belarus on Tuesday night near the Kruonis hydroelectric pumped-storage plant in Kaišiadorys district.

Premeneckas said the exercise would focus primarily on operational-level decision-making and cooperation between headquarters. He added that the involvement of all Lithuanian military forces over several weeks would also provide an opportunity to test new technologies and tactical methods.

There may be more military units on the roads during the exercise, as some ground forces and rapid response units will carry out tasks near critical infrastructure facilities and border posts.