Lithuania finds unfinished ‘migrant-smuggling’ tunnel from Belarus, one of dozens of suspected dig sites
Lithuanian border guards discovered an underground tunnel running from Belarus into the southeastern part of the country, the Lithuanian broadcaster LRT reported, citing Lithuania’s State Border Guard Service.
The tunnel (about one meter, or 3.3 feet, in diameter) had no exit on the Lithuanian side, according to the outlet. Border guards discovered it after detecting ground vibrations suggesting someone was digging underneath.
The border guard service believes the tunnel was meant to smuggle foreign nationals into Lithuania.
Rustamas Liubajevas, the head of Lithuania’s State Border Guard Service, said border guards had identified “dozens” of other locations where similar tunnels could exist. He added that Belarusian authorities may be involved in building the tunnels, saying there was little doubt they were either turning a blind eye or actively helping migrants dig them. Belarusian officials probably weren’t digging the tunnels themselves, he said, but the work was clearly being organized with migrants’ involvement.
Liubajevas said border guards found wooden supports inside the tunnel, adding that it would be impossible to bring timber so close to the border and carry out such work without help from Belarusian border guards.
Similar tunnels were found on the Belarusian-Polish border in 2025, the British newspaper The Telegraph reported. Polish authorities said specialists from the Middle East with a “high level of expertise” had helped design them. The Telegraph described the tunnels as a new escalation in the Kremlin’s hybrid war against Europe.
In the spring of 2021, amid worsening relations with Belarus, Lithuania reported a growing flow of unauthorized migrants, mostly from the Middle East and Africa, entering the country via the Belarusian-Lithuanian border — a surge that later escalated into a large-scale migration crisis.
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