Clara Whitfield

Incidents & OSINT Editor

🇬🇧 United Kingdom

Clara Whitfield is a UK-based investigative journalist specialising in airspace incidents, drone and balloon incursions, and open-source intelligence. At AirVeto she edits the incident database and writes regulatory analysis covering EU eastern border airspace policy.

Expertise

Airspace incidentsOSINT & flight trackingDrone incursionsRegulatory analysisCross-border smuggling

Articles (28)

Incident · 2026-10-13
Two drones at Adutiškis and Šiulgiai, October 9-11, 2026
VSAT border guards took control of two cigarette-carrying drones from Belarus on the nights of October 9 and 10, 2026, and say they have landed 63 drones this year.
Incident · 2026-10-09
Lithuania balloon cargos, Oct 8 - nine, 55,490 packs
Border guards and police intercepted nine balloon-borne cigarette cargoes from Belarus in four Lithuanian districts overnight and on the morning of October 8, 2026.
Incident · 2026-10-01
Alytus balloon cargo, Sept 29 - 15,075 cigarette packs
Border guards found balloon remains and a GPS tracker in Alytus on September 29, 2026, then 15,075 packs of Belarusian-stamped cigarettes in garages 100 m away.
Incident · 2026-10-01
Tausiūnai drones, September 27, 2026 - 60th intercept of 2026
VSAT border guards brought down two cigarette-carrying drones from Belarus in Šalčininkai District on the night of September 27, 2026, the 59th and 60th of the year.
Incident · 2026-09-23
Antaniškės drone, 22 Sep 2026 - cigarettes survive the fire
VSAT jammed and downed a cargo drone near Antaniškės, Šalčininkai District, overnight on 21-22 Sep 2026; the drone burned on impact but its 1,000 packs of Belarusian cigarettes survived intact.
Brief · 2026-09-22
Druskininkai Station Balloon Flies Tests, Opening Date Not Set
Druskininkai's helium balloon filled on September 25 and flew test lifts on September 27. Kautra promised an October opening; by October 9 no date was named.
Incident · 2026-09-18
Norviliškės drone, 16 Sep 2026 - 1,000 packs of cigarettes
VSAT jammed and landed a cargo drone near Norviliškės, Šalčininkai District, shortly after midnight on 16 Sep 2026, carrying 1,000 packs of Belarusian NZ Gold cigarettes worth €5,510.
Brief · 2026-09-09
Three VSAT Border Guards Detained Over Drone-Smuggling Collusion in Lazdijai District
VSAT detained seven suspects, including three of its own officers, after a drone delivered 22 boxes of Belarusian cigarettes near Lazdijai on September 8, 2026.
Incident · 2026-09-07
Daugidonys drone, September 6, 2026 - 55th intercept of 2026
VSAT downed a homemade drone from Belarus near Daugidonys, Šalčininkai district, on September 6, 2026. Cargo: 1,000 packs NZ Gold cigarettes, €5,510. The 55th drone interception of 2026.
Incident · 2026-09-04
Demene drone, 30 Aug 2026 - 15,000 cigarettes seized
Latvian border guards found a drone carrying 15,000 smuggled cigarettes in Demene parish, Augšdaugava Municipality, on August 30, 2026.
Incident · 2026-08-11
Skrudaliena tunnel, 10 Aug 2026 - Latvia's first
A tunnel dug from Belarus surfaced near Silene, Latvia, on August 10, 2026, the first found on this border; 15 people who crossed it were returned to Belarus.
Incident · 2026-08-06
Latežeris tunnel, August 4, 2026
VSAT's Kabeliai Border Post, with Polish tunnel-detection specialists, found a 4-meter unfinished tunnel near Latežeris, Druskininkai municipality - the third Varėna-district tunnel in weeks.
Incident · 2026-08-05
Kuodžiai four-drone intercept, July 30, 2026
VSAT Kapčiamiestis Border Post downed four contraband drones near Kuodžiai village, Lazdijai district, in under 30 minutes on July 30, 2026. Cargo: 4,000 packs of cigarettes, €21,840.
Incident · 2026-08-05
Norviliškės three-drone intercept, Dieveniškės Loop
VSAT landed three contraband drones near Norviliškės, in the Belarus-surrounded Dieveniškės Loop, on the night of July 29, 2026. Cargo: 3,000 packs NZ Gold SuperSlims, €16,380.
Incident · 2026-08-05
Veismūnai balloon-cargo ambush, July 27-28, 2026
VSAT ambushed three men collecting a balloon-dropped cigarette cargo near Veismūnai, Alytus district, overnight July 27-28, 2026. 12,000 packs NZ Gold and Minsk Superslims, valued €65,500.
Incident · 2026-07-30
Kaliningrad cigarette balloons, 27 Jul 2026
Russia's Federal Customs Service intercepted two suspects in Kaliningrad on July 27, 2026 before they could launch weather balloons carrying 6,500 packs of cigarettes to Lithuania.
Incident · 2026-07-29
Pertakas tunnel, July 26, 2026 - intercepted before exit reached
VSAT found an 11m unfinished tunnel near Pertakas on July 26, 2026 and withheld an officer confrontation, a cover-up that led chief Rustamas Liubajevas to resign on 17 August.
Brief · 2026-07-28
Neris River: Hexagonal Raft Seized With 2,090 Cigarette Packs
Lithuanian border guards pulled a snowflake-shaped metal raft from the Neris on July 27, 2026, the second identical seizure in two months at the Pavoverė post in Švenčioniai district.
Incident · 2026-07-27
Tausiūnai drone, July 26, 2026 - 35th intercept of 2026
VSAT Purvėnai post downed a fixed-wing drone near Tausiūnai, Šalčininkai district, on July 26, 2026. Cargo: 200 packs NZ Gold cigarettes, €1,092. The 35th drone interception of 2026.
Incident · 2026-07-27
Cross-border tunnel found near Kabeliai before completion
VSAT Kabeliai Border Post detected a Belarus-to-Lithuania tunnel near Piesčiai, Varėna district on July 22, 2026. Diameter 1m, depth 1.5m, 5m in, no Lithuanian exit.
Incident · 2026-07-20
Kenas drone found by dog handler, 340 packs, July 18, 2026
VSAT officers at the Kenas outpost heard a drone cross from Belarus on July 17, 2026 but lost it in darkness. A dog handler found it next morning in forest near Šumskų village.
Incident · 2026-07-20
Šalčininkų drone, May 7, 2026 - 17th intercept of 2026
VSAT brought down a contraband drone in Šalčininkų district, Lithuania, on May 7, 2026, recovering 850 packs of cigarettes worth €4,683 - the year's 17th interception.
Incident · 2026-07-20
Bobrowniki drone arrest, April 2026 - 3 detained at border
Polish border guards at Bobrowniki detained three men - two Belarusians and one Pole - collecting cigarettes delivered by drone from Belarus, April 2026.
Incident · 2026-07-18
Dieveniškės Loop, 22 Jun 2026 - 3-meter fixed-wing from Belarus
Lithuanian border guards intercepted a 3-meter fixed-wing drone from Belarus near the Dieveniškės Loop, Šalčininkų district, on June 22, 2026, using counter-drone equipment.
Incident · 2026-07-16
Suraż balloon cargo, 13 Jul 2026 - two Lithuanians detained
Polish border guards in Podlaskie detained two Lithuanians collecting 350 cartons of contraband cigarettes delivered by weather balloon to Suraż on July 13, 2026.
Incident · 2026-07-13
Daugidoniai drone, July 12, 2026 - cigarettes from Belarus
Lithuanian border guards intercepted a contraband drone from Belarus near Daugidoniai village on Sunday, July 12, 2026, recovering 200 packs of NZ Gold cigarettes worth €1,102.
Incident · 2026-07-13
Padvarioniai drones, July 9, 2026 - 2,000 cigarette packs seized
VSAT officers at the Padvarioniai outpost intercepted two contraband drones from Belarus on Thursday night, July 9, 2026, recovering 2,000 packs of Queen Menthol cigarettes worth €10,920.
Incident · 2026-07-09
Contraband drone from Belarus intercepted at Prūdelis
VSAT border guards at Prūdelis village used anti-drone equipment to take over a cigarette-smuggling drone from Belarus. After the control signal was overridden, the drone crashed to the ground.

Glossary (1)

Drone
Sokol-I
Russian fixed-wing interceptor drone designed to counter small Ukrainian reconnaissance and strike UAVs at tactical altitudes. Hand-launched, foam airframe, proximity-fused warhead or kinetic kill. Deployed operationally from June 2026.

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