Military exercises to be held in Lithuania to protect grocery stores LRT
The goal is to provide the population with goods in case of an emergency
The Lithuanian authorities have announced the military-civilian exercises, during which they will practice protection of grocery stores and pharmacies in the event of an emergency or military threat.
This was reported by state television LRT.
«Exercises should test the readiness of the supply and security systems of stores in the event of power, communication or logistics disruptions», the Lithuanian Ministry of Defence said.
200 stores and pharmacies in the programme
The training will involve at least 200 specially selected outlets, including large grocery chains and pharmacies.
Only in the capital 27 stores in Vilnius, which should be able to to provide about half of the city's population with the necessary goods within a day, even in the case of complete power or communication outage.
«These stores and pharmacies should function as strategic points of supply for the population in times of crisis», the Lithuanian Ministry of Internal Affairs explained.
Who will participate in the exercise
Participants will take part in the training:
military units,
police and security services,
representatives of municipalities,
civil defence volunteers.
Objective. establish coordination between government agencies and businesses to avoid chaos, panic or looting in the event of an emergency.
«We must ensure that even in times of crisis, citizens will have access to food and medicine. This is an element of national resilience,» the Lithuanian government stressed.
Context.
Lithuania, like the other Baltic states, has in recent months strengthened civil defence measures, preparing for possible hybrid threats and crisis scenarios.
Earlier, the country updated its evacuation plans and implemented a system of “civil preparedness” in schools and municipalities.
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