Gabrielė Jankienė, LRT.lt.

For Marija, a recent drone incident over Lithuania was a reminder that emergency preparedness could no longer be something to think about later.

The Vilnius resident had long considered putting together a go-bag with essential supplies. But after a drone flew into Lithuanian airspace from Belarus last week and was shot down, she decided it was time to act.

“I had been thinking about packing a bag for a long time, and the latest incident with the downed drone made me think about how prepared my family really is,” Marija told LRT.lt. “In reality, we are almost completely unprepared.”

Her bag now contains medicine, water, canned food, a Lithuanian first-aid kit, a battery-powered radio, a flashlight, spare batteries, a thermal blanket, a raincoat and other essentials.

She had begun buying canned and other nonperishable food after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, but had done little else to prepare for an emergency.

Read more: LRT.LT