Hot air balloons with Ukrainian flags fly over Vilnius in series of events

Hot air balloons are a symbol of Vilnius as it is one of the few capitals allowing them to overfly central parts of the city. The flags, 3 meters wide and 20 meters long, were flown from eight balloons led by the chief pilot of the largest ballooning organization. The pilots attempted to fly over the Russian embassy where a continuous protest rally is being held but the wind took them in a different direction. Meanwhile, crowds of people visited a charity event on a central square where celebrities were pouring bowls of hot Ukrainian borscht for a 5 euro donation. Famous chefs were making borscht according to various Ukrainian recipes and a ton of the soup was handed out. Some 30,000 euros will be donated to a field hospital in Ukraine. Prime Minister Simonyte mingled with the crowd just outside her office before heading to Alytus where the first refugee reception center was opened right after the war started.