Vilnius: Vilnius airport in Lithuania was shut overnight after dozens of cigarette-smuggling balloons were sighted in its airspace, according to the country's National Crisis Management Centre (NCMC).

The operations at the airport were disrupted from 10:30 pm on Tuesday to 6:30 am on Wednesday, resulting in the cancellation of 30 flights and stranding 4,000 passengers, according to the airport, Euro News reported.

Flights scheduled for arrival at the airport were redirected to other locations, including Warsaw and Lithuania's Kaunas airport.

In a statement, the NCMC stated, "Operations have been disrupted due to weather balloons used to smuggle cigarettes from Belarus." The centre further said that Lithuania's border with Belarus was shut after the balloons were spotted.

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