Vilnius city officials have unveiled an emergency evacuation plan designed to guide residents out of the capital in the event of a military threat, nuclear accident or other major emergency.
The plan outlines three main evacuation routes: toward Panevėžys and Šiauliai in the north, toward Klaipėda and Kaunas in the west, and toward Alytus and the Polish border in the south.
However, city officials acknowledge that some roads could become heavily congested.
Residents would be alerted to evacuate through sirens or emergency text messages, city officials said. People would be expected to take pre-packed emergency bags and decide whether to evacuate using personal vehicles or municipal transportation.
Those relying on city-organised transport would need to reach designated gathering points – typically two to three schools or kindergartens per district across Vilnius.
“People need to make this decision now, not when it’s time to leave their homes,” said Vilnius City Council member and defence expert Aurimas Navys. “You have to ask yourself: will I need assistance, will I go on my own, or even on foot, if that’s your thing?”
But bottlenecks could emerge quickly. Regardless of the district, all evacuees would eventually merge onto the same few major roads. In case of a military threat, evacuation routes toward Panevėžys and Šiauliai would use the western bypass, Ukmergės Street, and Highway A2. Routes toward Alytus would follow the same bypass, Geležinio Vilko Street, Savanorių Avenue and Highway A4.
In the event of a natural disaster, residents could evacuate westward toward Klaipėda via Geležinio Vilko Street, Tūkstantmečio Street, Savanorių Avenue and Highway A1.
“There are only three directions to leave Vilnius – unless you’ve got a hot air balloon,” Navys said. “The plan is based on what we actually have.”
While roads are currently less congested due to school holidays, authorities warned that a full-scale evacuation would cause massive traffic jams. Police Chief Arūnas Paulauskas said additional officers would be deployed to control traffic, deactivate traffic lights and direct vehicles manually to keep traffic flowing.
Former Vilnius Mayor Artūras Zuokas criticised the plan, calling it “an insult to common sense”.
Everyone would know where to go, he said, the problem is, it would be impossible. “The roads were never designed or planned for this. In a nuclear incident or military threat, people would have to flee through the fields.”
Current Mayor Valdas Benkunskas identified five key road segments that need improvement to prevent gridlock, noting that some of the necessary upgrades could take years. He also criticised the central government for inadequate support.
“Building a bridge or widening a road is expensive, and then you have to go through all the procedures,” Benkunskas said.
Retired military officer Maj. Darius Antanaitis said that while the plan may be inadequate from a purely military standpoint, it still has value.
“What’s important is that an assessment has been done – now the municipality knows what’s needed for evacuation. That, I think, is critical,” Antanaitis said.
According to the mayor, it would take two to three days to evacuate all Vilnius residents.
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