Lithuania Closes Two Border Crossings With Belarus

Lithuania on August 18 closed two of its six border checkpoints with Belarus in a move it announced earlier this month citing the security risk posed by Russia's Wagner mercenary group. "Both Sumsko and Tvereciaus border checkpoints were shut at midnight," the spokeswoman of the border guard service, Lina Laurinaityte-Grigiene, told AFP. Officers laid road spikes at the closed checkpoints and will proceed to erect fences with barbed wire in the area on August 18, she added. Lithuania, a member of NATO's eastern flank, responded to escalating tensions between the neighbors, with Vilnius warning of provocations by Minsk. To read the original story by AFP, click here.