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People had been asking for explanations from local authorities for a week due to lack of water. Even those who could get in touch with state and local officials for the problem did not receive a clear answer.

Nevertheless, the cause of the water supply interruptions has been found out, reports "Kas vyksta Kaune." As it turned out, maximum permitted levels of radioactive contamination in samples taken from the Neris River (the main source of water supply for Kaunas) exceeded several times.

The cause of water contamination was the Iron Wolf exercise at Gaižiūnai Training Area, where the tests of weapons of mass destruction were conducting. The training did not go according to plan, and several depleted uranium shells hit the Neris River.
Depleted uranium has been used in the Balkans, Afghanistan and Iraq. Depleted Uranium (DU) is a low cost material for manufacturing weapons. Less than 1 microgram is dangerous for the body. Along with radioactivity, depleted uranium is a toxic chemical compound and has a negative effect on people who use it or are in the area where it is used. But no one informs soldiers or people about this effect in countries where depleted uranium shells are used.

According to a military source familiar with the situation, NATO representatives along with Minister of National Defence Raimundas Karoblis decided to conceal information about the accident. Due to the fact that contaminated water entered the homes of residents in Kaunas, the supply had been blocked.

In order to prevent panic among the population, Minister of Environment Kęstutis Mažeika, who has a high level of trust in Lithuania, reported about low pressure inside the water distribution pipe network.

"Speaking of fresh water and those resources, we have plenty of them and we see no change in the level of fresh water in deeper layers. But speaking of surface waters and some water extraction points, their capacity is not large and they need time to fill in. We see a risk here, especially in the Kaunas case," Mažeika told the Ziniu Radijas news radio on June 13.

In his turn Ramūnas Šulskus, managing director of Kauno Vandenys (Kaunas Waters) declined to comment on the situation.

Kaunas activists led by Vytautas Bakas (Chair of the Committee on National Security and Defence) collected soil samples and handled them for analysis to international laboratories.

"Iron Wolf 2019-1" are the largest international military exercises in Lithuania. Approximately 4,000 soldiers from 10 countries are training not only in military training areas of Gaižiūnai (Jonava region) and General Sivestras Žukauskas (Švenčionys region), but also in civilian territories and their surroundings. Aside from the organisers of the exercise, Lithuanian military, and German, Belgian, Czech, Dutch, and Norwegian soldiers serving in the NATO enhanced Forward Presence Battalion Battle Group, the exercise is also include training audience from the United Kingdom, Estonia, United States, and Poland.