Lithuania sends an army plane to the Middle East to evacuate its citizens from Israeli / day

« The Lithuanian Armed Forces Spartan and its mission team have arrived and in readiness in a neighboring country, » the army informed in social media Facebook.

The location of the aircraft is not made public for safety reasons.

Although Israeli airspace is still closed because of hostilities with Iran, the Lithuanian authorities are developing alternative evacuation plans by coordinating their activities with international partners, the army said.

125 Lithuanian citizens have expressed his desire to leave Israel, persons with a permanent residence permit in Lithuania and other status, said Daryus Buta, senior advisor to the National Crisis Management Center on Monday.

Vilmants Vitauskas, head of the Lithuanian National Crisis Management Center, said on Monday that the closure of Israeli airspace is the reason why Lithuania has not been able to evacuate its citizens. He added that officials are looking for alternative ways to evacuate citizens.

Vitkauskas said Spartan is one to two hours of flight from Tel Aviv Ben Gurion Airport, but admitted that the opening of Israeli airspace is not possible at the moment.

The head of the National Crisis Management Center said that Lithuania was working with many countries in this situation, but the most intense coordination work is done with Germany.

Preliminary data from the Center show that there are 255 Lithuanian citizens in Israel and 84 nationals are in Iran.

It has already been reported that Israel launched a military operation on Friday, impacting Iran’s nuclear sites and other military purposes, and Iran responds with rocket shocks to Israel.