KOVAS app downloads surge only after dangers emerge
Saturday 19th September 2026 on 07:30 in
Lithuania
Vilnius Mayor Valdas Benkunskas says residents often take an interest in civil safety only when a threat arises, prompting a sharp increase in downloads of the KOVAS public information and civil safety app, LRT reported.
The app has been operating for more than a year and has surpassed 90,000 downloads. However, Benkunskas said a large share of those downloads came after dangerous incidents.
The first significant increase followed a fire at a gas filling station on September 10 last year, when almost 6,000 people downloaded the relatively new app. A larger surge came on May 20, when an air threat was announced for the first time and more than 40,000 Vilnius residents downloaded KOVAS over two days.
After warnings of a possible air threat, downloads rise to 2,000 or 3,000 a day, the mayor said. Without active communication, the app normally receives only a few dozen downloads per day.
About 5,000 more people downloaded the app after a yellow air threat signal was announced on September 13 and 14.
Benkunskas urged residents to prepare for emergencies in advance by downloading KOVAS, finding safe zones in their homes and the nearest shelters, preparing a family plan and keeping an evacuation bag up to date.
A possible air threat was announced in Vilnius and Kaunas counties on Tuesday night after a drone was spotted. The warning was later lifted after authorities said the drone had been destroyed.
The drone was shot down using missile weapons by allied fighter jets from Italy that had taken off from the air base in Šiauliai. Initial information indicated that it may have been neutralised in Alytus District near Navasiolkai village, but the National Crisis Management Centre later said it had been shot down near Pratkūnai village in Kaišiadoriai District.
Preliminary information indicated that the drone had entered Lithuania’s airspace from Belarus. Defence Minister Robertas Kaunas said it was carrying explosives. President Gitanas Nausėda said the object was a Russian Gerbera-type drone intended to attack Ukraine but had deviated from its course.