By Tommy Hansen
COPENHAGEN, Denmark
The Lithuanian Defense Ministry will send out a “war manual” to libraries and elsewhere in the country, it was revealed Thursday.
The move comes amid concerns of a Russian invasion in Ukraine, which keep growing after last month’s Russian military drill in the enclave of Kaliningrad that featured 9,000 soldiers and more than 55 naval vessels.
According to the manual, citizens would be asked to "keep a sound mind, don't panic and don't lose clear thinking." Also, it explained "gunshots just outside your window are not the end of the world."
The manual encouraged Lithuanians to resist foreign occupation with demonstrations and strikes, "or at least by doing your job worse than usual."
"The examples of Georgia and Ukraine, which both lost a part of their territory, show us that we cannot rule out a similar kind of situation here, and that we should be ready," Defense Minister Juozas Olekas told Reuters Thursday.
"When Russia started its aggression in Ukraine, here in Lithuania, our citizens understood that our neighbor is not friendly," Olekas added.
In case of an invasion, the Lithuanians were to organize via social media and, according to Der Spiegel, they were encouraged to initiate cyber attacks against the enemy. Also, they should demonstrate and go on strike, the manual said.
The Lithuanian government was also considering a requirement for all future buildings to be equipped with a bomb shelter.
Lithuania has been a member of the Western NATO alliance since the independence in 1991.
