VILNIUS A group of 16 people fleeing Russia's rebel region of Chechnya asked Lithuanian authorities for political asylum, with "well-founded fears of persecution", officials said on Friday.

Five men, four women and seven children of Chechen origin made asylum requests to officials at the railway station in the capital Vilnius. They were subsequently taken to an immigration center in nearby Pabrade, officials said.

"We can only say they are citizens of Russia from the region of Chechnya and were taken to the foreigners' registration center," Rokas Pukinskas of the border patrol service told Reuters.

Processing the asylum applications could take six months, but could be expedited to as few as three months if the authorities find merit in the requests, an official said.