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 (18)

Incident · 2026-08-06
Latežeris tunnel, 4 August 2026
VSAT's Kabeliai Border Post, with Polish tunnel-detection specialists, found a 4-metre unfinished tunnel near Latežeris, Druskininkai municipality - the third Varėna-district tunnel in weeks.
Incident · 2026-08-05
Kuodžiai four-drone intercept, 30 July 2026
VSAT Kapčiamiestis Border Post downed four contraband drones near Kuodžiai village, Lazdijai district, in under 30 minutes on 30 July 2026. Cargo: 4,000 packs of cigarettes, €21,840.
Incident · 2026-08-05
Norviliškės three-drone intercept, Dieveniškės Loop, 29 July 2026
VSAT landed three contraband drones near Norviliškės, in the Belarus-surrounded Dieveniškės Loop, on the night of 29 July 2026. Cargo: 3,000 packs NZ Gold SuperSlims, €16,380.
Incident · 2026-08-05
Veismūnai balloon-cargo ambush, 27-28 July 2026
VSAT ambushed three men collecting a balloon-dropped cigarette cargo near Veismūnai, Alytus district, overnight 27-28 July 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 27 July 2026 before they could launch weather balloons carrying 6,500 packs of cigarettes to Lithuania.
Incident · 2026-07-29
Pertakas tunnel, 26 July 2026 - intercepted before exit reached
VSAT found an 11m unfinished tunnel near Pertakas on 26 July 2026. Migrants overpowered four officers to free handcuffed detainees; VSAT withheld the incident, prompting an internal investigation.
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 27 July 2026, the second identical seizure in two months at the Pavoverė post in Švenčioniai district.
Incident · 2026-07-27
Tausiūnai drone, 26 July 2026 - 35th intercept of 2026
VSAT Purvėnai post downed a fixed-wing drone near Tausiūnai, Šalčininkai district, on 26 July 2026. Cargo: 200 packs NZ Gold cigarettes, €1,092. The 35th drone interception of 2026.
Incident · 2026-07-27
Kabeliai tunnel, 22 July 2026 - found before crossing was complete
VSAT Kabeliai Border Post detected a Belarus-to-Lithuania tunnel near Piesčiai, Varėna district on 22 July 2026. Diameter 1m, depth 1.5m, 5m in, no Lithuanian exit.
Incident · 2026-07-20
Kenas drone, 18 July 2026 - 340 packs found by dog handler in forest
VSAT officers at the Kenas outpost heard a drone crossing from Belarus on the night of 17 July 2026 but couldn't find it in darkness. A dog handler located it the next morning in forest near Šumskų village, Vilnius district.
Incident · 2026-07-20
Šalčininkų drone, 7 May 2026 - 17th intercept of 2026
VSAT brought down a contraband drone in Šalčininkų district on 7 May 2026, recovering 850 packs of Minsk Capital QS cigarettes worth €4,683 - the 17th drone interception of the year on the Lithuania-Belarus border.
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 - who came to collect cigarettes delivered by drone from Belarus. Charged under tax law, aviation law, and Poland's anti-aggression statute.
Brief · 2026-07-19
Ukraine Has Disabled a Fifth of 'Russia's Amazon' - Wildberries.
Ukraine has hit Wildberries - Russia's Amazon - at least 18 times since 18 July, disabling over a fifth of its 5.2 million square metres of warehouse space.
Incident · 2026-07-18
Dieveniškės Loop, 22 Jun 2026 - 3-metre fixed-wing from Belarus
Lithuanian border guards intercepted a 3-metre fixed-wing drone from Belarus near the Dieveniškės Loop, Šalčininkų district, on 22 June 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 13 July 2026.
Incident · 2026-07-13
Daugidoniai drone, 12 July 2026 - NZ Gold from Belarus
Lithuanian border guards intercepted a contraband drone from Belarus near Daugidoniai village on Sunday, 12 July 2026, recovering 200 packs of NZ Gold cigarettes worth €1,102.
Incident · 2026-07-13
Padvarioniai drones, 9 July 2026 - 2,000 cigarette packs seized
VSAT officers at the Padvarioniai outpost intercepted two contraband drones from Belarus on Thursday night, 9 July 2026, recovering 2,000 packs of Queen Menthol cigarettes worth €10,920.
Incident · 2026-07-09
Contraband drone from Belarus intercepted at Prūdelis, Šalčininkų district, 9 July 2026
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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