Lithuania has no info on Russian provocations at Astavyets NPP –adviser

VILNIUS - Vilnius has no information about Russia's possible provocations at the Belarusian nuclear power plant near the Lithuanian border, presidential adviser Kestutis Budrys says.

"Lithuania currently has no information about provocations (...) being organized in Belarus by any party. We have no such information," the presidential adviser told reporters on Monday after the State Defense Council's meeting.

Ukrainian military intelligence reported on Sunday that Russian special services were allegedly planning to carry out a number of terrorist attacks on critical infrastructure in Belarus, including the Astravyets nuclear power plant, in the near future.

Budrys, however, says these and similar reports are taken "quite seriously".

The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense's Main Directorate of Intelligence says incidents would be aimed at accelerating the Belarusian army's involvement in the war in Ukraine on the Russian side, as well as creating the opinion in Belarusian society the Kremlin needs.

The Astravyets NPP was built in 2020. Lithuania, one of the nuclear facility's biggest critics, and international experts say it was built in gross violation of the existing technological and environmental standards.