In May, Lithuania declared its first-ever air-raid alert after drones entered the country's airspace, instructing residents to head to their nearest shelter. In the aftermath, it emerged that some shelters were inaccessible when needed - and, perhaps more troublingly, that many people had no idea where to go in the first place.
Just over a fifth of Lithuanians know where their nearest air-raid shelter is located, according to a new survey - a gap the country's new interior minister says needs addressing, though he argues residents themselves also bear responsibility for finding out.
The findings come from a representative survey conducted by Baltijos tyrimai, a Lithuanian-British market and public opinion research company, between June 19 and 30, 2026.
It surveyed 1,010 Lithuanian residents aged 18 and over across 108 locations, with a margin of error of no more than 3.1 percentage points at a 95% confidence level. The poll was carried out via face-to-face interviews in respondents' homes.
Only around 22% of those surveyed said they know exactly where to find the shelter nearest their home, in the event of an air-raid alert or other emergency. Four in ten said they thought they knew, but weren't certain. A further 31% said they had no idea where their nearest shelter was - and had never looked into it.
