Two Russian planes that took off from the Kaliningrad region violated Lithuanian airspace. In response, the country’s Foreign Ministry handed a note of protest to representatives of the Russian diplomatic mission. The violation of the state border was recorded near the city of Kibartai, the press service of the Lithuanian Armed Forces reported.
“The Russian Su-30 aircraft, which was probably performing refueling training in the Kaliningrad region, and the Il-78 aircraft, which was refueling, invaded the territory of Lithuania by approximately 700 meters and left Lithuanian airspace, staying in it for approximately 18 seconds,”, the report says.
In response to the incident in the sky Two Eurofighter Typhoon fighters of the Spanish Air Force, participating in the NATO air policing mission, took off.
After violating the airspace, the chargé d’affaires of the Russian Embassy in Lithuania was summoned to the Foreign Ministry, where he was handed a note of protest. The Lithuanian side expressed a strong protest against Russia’s actions.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs emphasized that it demands immediate explanations from the Russian Federation and the taking of all necessary measures to prevent similar incidents in the future.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has informed NATO and European Union partners, as well as the North Atlantic Council, about the incident through diplomatic channels”, the ministry said.
Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda condemned Russia’s actions, calling them a gross violation of international law:
“We condemn Russia’s actions and the incursion of military aircraft into our airspace. We see that these incidents have become more frequent recently – not only in Lithuania. Of course, this is a gross violation of international law and our space. We cannot help but react, and at the same time, this very well reflects the importance of the issues that we are discussing today in the European Council format, and the decisions that we intend to make are certainly aimed primarily at strengthening Lithuania’s air defense.
