Lithuania is racing to protect targets and prepare its population for a potential Russian attack, with its prime minister saying the country is “constantly threatened”.
The Baltic country’s “total defence” doctrine offers a blueprint for how other European nations could defend against the threat from Vladimir Putin, involving volunteers and businesses alongside the military.
Mindaugas Sinkevičius, Lithuania’s prime minister, told the BBC on Tuesday that his country is “constantly threatened” but that “there are plans for evacuation”.
Why HRT patches are safer than pills
Oral hormone-replacement therapy (HRT) causes a slightly higher rate of blood clots – but there was no such risk from therapies applied to the skin.
The context
Why women use HRT
HRT is used by women going through menopause or for several years afterwards to stop hot flushes and reduce osteoporosis – where bones become weaker.
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The new research
Previous studies found HRT may cause a slightly higher rate of blood clots, heart attacks and breast cancer.
- A Danish study found women had a 60 per cent higher risk of blood clots from oral HRT, and a 20 to 30 per cent higher risk of strokes or heart attacks.
- But the total risk of blood clots was still very low, about one extra blood clot per thousand women per year.
- There was no blood clot risk seen with patches, gels or spray forms of HRT.
- But there was a higher rate of heart attacks with skin-based HRT if it is “cyclic”, alternating between oestrogen and oestrogen and progestogen.
Why might patches be safer?
Oral HRT is transported by blood vessels connecting the gut to the liver. There, it seems to increase levels of certain liver proteins involved in blood clotting.
When HRT is applied through patches or gels, the hormones are absorbed straight into the blood and don’t reach the liver at such high levels.
The NHS says the benefits of HRT usually outweigh the downsides, and that the risks of serious side effects are very low.
HRT is especially helping for combatting osteoporosis in women experiencing early menopause, before the age 45.
How the licence fee could be scrapped for a new monthly charge
The licence fee could be axed and replaced by an £11-a-month internet levy – and viewers invited to become “BBC members” – under new proposals.
The licence fee is becoming increasingly unsustainable, with 3.7 million households claiming to not need one, while half a million households stopped paying last year, forcing the BBC to find £500m in cuts.
‘Home internet levy’ fairest solution
A “home internet levy” method of funding is most likely to command public consent, the report, commissioned by campaign organisation 38 Degrees, found.
A BBC internet levy would cost £11 per month, an average increase of 35 per cent on the current cost of internet bills, but would be £4 a month cheaper than the current licence fee.
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The other proposals for the BBC
The report looked at other funding solutions such as keeping the licence fee, but adding a “news and culture levy” of £2.30 on to internet bills.
Also proposed was a £12 a month “household levy” or putting the cost of the licence fee on to streaming subscriptions.
Make BBC a ‘mutual’ society
- The report also proposed radical changes to make the BBC more accountable to the public by becoming a “mutual-style membership” organisation.
- Members would be chosen by lottery to take part in a member council, where they would serve terms of up to three years and be paid for their time.
- They would “hold the board of the BBC to account, ensuring that the organisation is meeting its duties to the public”.
- Under the proposals, the council would have no control over editorial decisions, hiring talent or decisions on programming.
The four key moments from Burnham’s meeting with Trump
There was no shortage of trip-wires that could have derailed Andy Burnham’s first meeting with Donald Trump, but in the end, it produced remarkably little friction.
Even without the charm offensive, Trump liked Burnham better than Starmer
In July, when Trump met Sir Keir Starmer at the Nato summit in Turkey after he had announced his resignation, the US President said he wanted to “bring him back” and “make him great again”.
Two months on, that affection has evaporated. Asked about a special relationship that has been up and down, Trump said things were “more up than they were under your last prime minister”.
No Trump attack on UK migration policy
Trump has previously said Britain is “on the edge of disaster” because of “insane” immigration policies, but in New York, he called it “a worldwide situation”.
For a Labour Prime Minister under pressure on small boats, being spared a public rebuke on his first outing is significant.
Trump thinks Britain has ‘tremendous potential’
Trump has previously called the UK “essentially bankrupt” for refusing to fully exploit North Sea oil and for relying on green energy. He has also claimed the country is “dying” under alleged mass migration.
This time he said Britain had “tremendous potential” and compared it favourably with other countries whose leaders he meets but in which he sees little promise.
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Burnham swerved a Trump rebuke over West Bank
- Many expected Washington to condemn Britain’s sanctions on illegal West Bank settlements.
- When asked directly, Trump did not engage. He said he did not know about the move and left the question for Burnham to answer.
- It was an odd moment, but a useful one for No 10. A US president who wanted to punish Britain had an open invitation to do so and passed it up.
Vapes and prescription medicine now used to spike victims
Drug-laced vapes, as well as prescription and over-the-counter medications, are increasingly being used to spike victims, police have said.
Various drugs used in vapes
Cases have emerged where officers have encountered vapes containing THC, the primary psychoactive compound in cannabis, and the synthetic drug spice, alongside the use of high doses of common medications such as antihistamines and travel-sickness tablets.
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Victims targeted in private settings
We’re seeing offenders use a wider range of substances than ever before, including everyday medications and substances added to vapes, while increasingly targeting victims in private settings such as homes, parties and student accommodation
Metropolitan police spiking lead Detective Superintendent Dan Thompson
How widespread is the issue?
- Over the past year, more than 2,700 spiking-related offences were reported to the Met, but only 131 resulted in a charge, caution or summons.
- This marked a 20 per cent increase over the previous year.
- More than half the victims were aged 18 to 35.
- A YouGov poll from December 2022 found that 10 per cent of women and 5 per cent of men said they had had a drink spiked.
How one test could ‘transform’ womb cancer care
A simple test analysing cells in urine and vaginal fluid could help rule out womb cancer in women experiencing bleeding after menopause.
Women could avoid invasive tests
The new test has the potential to “transform care” researchers said, sparing patients from “invasive, uncomfortable” tests that are costly for the NHS.
Around 10,200 women are diagnosed with womb cancer in the UK each year. Bleeding after menopause is a common symptom and can trigger urgent cancer referral.
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A closer look at the study
- The research included 1,864 women attending hospital with postmenopausal bleeding.
- The test correctly identified 80 per cent of cancers.
- It had a negative predictive value of 98.8 per cent for womb cancer, meaning women with a negative result were very unlikely to have the disease.
- It also detected 95.8 per cent of high-grade tumours and 96.4 per cent of cancers that had spread beyond the uterus.
Children as young as 13 diagnosed with ‘ketamine bladder’
Children as young as 13 have been referred to a specialist clinic with ketamine-induced uropathy (KIU), according to new analysis.
What is ‘ketamine bladder’?
KIU – also known as ketamine bladder – is a painful and severe condition caused by the drug damaging the urinary tubes, kidneys and bladder.
- Frequent urination, blood in urine and a loss of bladder control are some of the symptoms.
- The UK’s first KIU clinic opened in May 2025 due to a rise in young people with the condition.
Which children are most affected?
- The average age of the first 60 patients was 14.
- Around 66 per cent of the patients were girls, with a similar proportion living in the most deprived areas.
- 72 per cent had experienced emotional trauma, with one in five having experienced the care system.
- 16 of the children had autism or ADHD, or both.
The underlying factors
We are trying to understand the wider picture. use does not happen in isolation, and our analysis is helping us explore the different factors that may be associated with young people developing serious health problems
Professor Rachel Isba, consultant in paediatric public health medicine at Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust
Royal claims you haven’t heard as Earl Spencer’s book published
With Earl Spencer’s controversial book Swan Song: Diana, My Sister now released, The i Paper has taken a closer look at some of the claims.
Here are five of the most eye-catching.
Charles acted like ‘child’
Then-prince Charles acted like a “petulant” child, according to Spencer. Charles is said to have told the author that he was “lucky” to be inheriting the Althorp Estate while still in his twenties.
- According to Spencer, Charles told him: “You’re just so lucky – you know, inheriting when you’re so young. I mean, I’m 43… and I employ 50 people … but my parents insist on treating me like – like a child!”
A closer look at the claims
Spencer claims, via a courtier, that the late Queen Elizabeth II said Charles was “resentful”. “He always resents things. He even resented it when I taught him the alphabet.”
He also wrote about Elizabeth’s apparent response to the news Diana was involved in an accident. “When the Queen had heard the first news of Diana’s being in a traffic accident, she had asked tetchily, ‘What is she up to now?’” he wrote. “This, before the seriousness of it all became clear.”
Diana suspected Charles had ‘tryst’ with Camilla on train
Diana suspected that Charles may have had a “tryst” with Camilla, according to the book. The suspicion followed a press report in 1980 which claimed Charles was seen with a blonde woman on the royal train.
However, Spencer wrote that this was not Diana and that she suspected that it was Camilla on the train.
Law firm offered to help him sue over Diana crash
Earl Spencer claims that a law firm offered to help him, William and Harry sue over the crash that killed Diana in France.
He said that he did not reply to the letter.
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Morgan threatens to sue
Piers Morgan has threatened to sue Earl Spencer after claiming that there are “fabricated inaccuracies” in the book.
- The Earl claimed that Morgan “snarled with annoyance” after he was uninvited from Diana’s funeral.
The reaction
- Earl Spencer, responding to the Palace’s pushback over Charles’s alleged words, told the BBC: “Those are exactly the words he said.”
- He has also denied being vengeful. “I don’t hold resentments,” he told .
- Buckingham Palace has declined to comment on the latest revelations and referred back to Wednesday’s initial statement.
- Earl Spencer was approached for further comment.
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Lithuania, along with its Baltic neighbours, has faced a series of “hybrid attacks” below the threshold of warfare from Russia and Belarus, as security experts warn that Moscow may be preparing an attack on Nato territory.
On Monday, flights were disrupted at the country’s main airport this week due to an aerial incursion with unidentified objects. On Wednesday, neighbouring Poland reported a violation of its airspace by a Russian helicopter originating from Russia’s Kaliningrad exclave.
Last week, Nato jets shot down a drone that entered Lithuanian airspace. In May, the parliament building was evacuated in response to a drone threat.
But Lithuania is well prepared. Tens of thousands of citizens are training in defence and survival skills, critical infrastructure is gaining new protection, and border security is increasingly formidable.
In 2014, Russia infiltrated eastern Ukraine and Crimea in 2014 using militant forces dubbed “little green men”, which it denied any connection with, who were able to gain a foothold before the full-scale invasion of 2022.
Lithuania and its neighbours have taken steps to avoid a repeat of that scenario through the “Baltic Defence Line” along their borders, featuring layers of defensive lines including anti-tank fortifications, razor wire, bunkers and planned minefields, to be monitored by drones and surveillance equipment.
Edward Lucas, a British journalist and security expert, and founder of the Baltic International Security Centre think-tank, said Russia would struggle to launch a surprise attack. “Only a pinprick attack [a small-scale, localised military strike] could be a surprise,” he said. “You could have 10 ‘little green men’ crossing the border, but they would all be dead within a day.”
Lithuanian intelligence assesses that Moscow has increased its force presence across the border, but not to the extent that it could threaten a large-scale invasion, and believes it is unlikely to be able to do so while the majority of its military is committed to Ukraine.
Vilnius, the country’s capital, has also sought, and received, assurance in the form of Nato forces being deployed to its territory. President Gitanas Nausėda announced on Tuesday that a new battalion of US soldiers is on its way to take up positions in Lithuania, following uncertainty over American commitment. Around 5,000 German troops are expected to begin deployment there next year.
Lithuania’s state security agency, the VSD, says that Russia is most likely to escalate through sabotage attacks, as seen across Europe, including in a drone plot against a German airport and arson at Ukraine-linked British warehouses.
“The GRU [Russian military intelligence agency] is seeking to improve the implementation of its operations and address their chaotic execution,” the VSD reported. It said that the agency was using a long chain of intermediaries to distance itself from “experienced individuals with criminal records willing to carry out operations for a relatively small financial reward”.
Potential targets could include “shopping centres, restaurants, public transportation infrastructure and facilities related to military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine”, the agency said, adding that it had thwarted several operations involving “homemade incendiary devices or explosives disguised
as household appliances”.
Vilnius is moving to harden such targets and build resilience. A power plant under construction in Lithuania, 19 miles from the border with the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad, will be protected by explosion-proof fencing and sensors for detecting underground movements. Its inner workings will be capable of surviving a drone strike, according to Andrius Šemeškevičius, CEO of Lithuania’s electricity transmission system operator Litgrid.
“Previously, when designing our grid, we planned for natural disasters. Now, we think about all possible hybrid and non-hybrid threats,” he told on Tuesday.
Vilnius is working to rapidly build 6,645 shelters that would serve an estimated 1.6 million people – more than half of the population.
More than 32,000 citizens in the country took part in civil resistance training courses, including defence and survival skills, in the first six months of 2026, according to state media.
Lucas points to a surge in membership of the Riflemen’s Union, a civilian volunteer force that offers wide-ranging support to the military and security services. “If something happens in a village and the nearest policeman is half an hour’s drive away, they can ask a Rifleman to take a look,” he said. “Was it someone letting off fireworks? Was it a stray drone that crashed? Was it little green men? It gives you a kind of 3D vision throughout the society.”
Union members also take part in drills that simulate responding to outbreaks of pro-Russian militancy, with fears that the minority of ethnic Russians inside Lithuania could be used to spread disorder and weaken security.
Lithuania has so far faced isolated aerial incursions by drones and balloons. But it has taken them seriously, shutting down infrastructure and government buildings and evacuating personnel.
The practice may be valuable if attacks escalate, Lucas suggests. “You can’t rule out a Russian drone or missile coming in and if it’s heading to Vilnius, that is quite close to the border, you don’t have much time,” he said. “You don’t want a jet-powered Russian drone slamming into your parliament and knocking out half your MPs, so it is absolutely sensible to have a very well-practised rehearsal.”
Russia could plausibly disguise such an attack as an accident or the work of third parties, said Lucas, which could make it an attractive option for the Kremlin.
Lithuania’s interior ministry announced in July it had approved plans for large-scale evacuations in emergency scenarios, under which the state could provide transport for vulnerable groups such as the elderly, people with disabilities and families with young children.
The government is also working with neighbouring Poland to develop road and bridge routes that could be used to evacuate civilians in one direction and bring military equipment the other way. The border between Poland and Lithuania includes the Suwałki Gap, which is shared with Kaliningrad, and military theorists have argued it is a potential vulnerability the Kremlin could exploit.
So, as Britain works to urgently improve its readiness for a potential Russian attack – alongside the rest of Europe – we may benefit from looking to Lithuania and its Baltic neighbours for guidance on how to proceed.