An internal review has found that Lithuanian officers responded properly and did not violate any procedures after a Russian citizen jumped off a transit train, Interior Minister Vladislav Kondratovič said.
“One probe into procedures and the possible inaction of officers has been completed. Officers followed established protocols and did what was required. But what we found during the review is that the procedures are very fragmented and lack overall coordination. That’s what we plan to change,” he told LRT TV on Tuesday.
Kondratovič expects a working group tasked with proposing changes to transit train oversight to present its recommendations later this week.
The minister also said that authorities have recorded a case in which an individual from Russia attempted to enter Lithuania via a river. The individual was returned to Russia.
“Such cases do occur, but they are quite rare,” Kondratovič said.
He added that a Belarusian citizen used a ladder to climb a border fence this week and asked for humanitarian help in Lithuania. “This citizen is now at a refugee centre, he’s receiving assistance according to the protocol,” the minister said.
Danil Mukhametov, a Russian citizen born in 2004, fled the Adler–Kaliningrad train on June 17 while it was passing through Lithuania under a special transit arrangement.
According to police, about 25 minutes before the train was due to reach the Kybartai railway station, an attendant noticed an open door through which the man may have jumped off the train.
Lithuanian police are still searching for Mukhametov and have alerted foreign partners.
In early July, prosecutors launched a pretrial investigation into the unlawful crossing of the state border.
Transit between mainland Russia and Kaliningrad is governed by an agreement between the European Union and Russia, which outlines specific obligations.
A similar incident was reported in 2020, when an Uzbek national jumped off a train near Vilnius and died in what was reported as an accident.
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