Lithuania says Russian warplanes violated its airspace
Editor's note: This is a developing story and is being updated.
Two Russian military aircraft briefly violated Lithuanian airspace on the evening of Oct. 23, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda announced.
A Su-30 fighter jet and an Il-78 refueling plane flew approximately 700 meters intoLithuanian airspace from the Kaliningrad exclave, remaining there for about 18 seconds, according to the Baltic country's military.
"This is a blatant breach of international law and territorial integrity of Lithuania," Nauseda said, adding that the Lithuanian Foreign Ministry would summon a Russian envoy.
Lithuanian Prime Minister Inga Ruginiene said on Facebook that the incident "shows once again that Russia behaves as a terrorist state in spite of international law and the safety of neighboring countries. However, such actions will not affect us - Lithuania remains firm, united and ready to defend itself."
The Russian Defence Ministry reported via its Telegram channel that none of the Su-30 jets training over Kaliningrad violated borders of other countries.
The reported incident follows similar cases that took place last month. Estonia said that three Russian MiG-31 jets entered its airspace for several minutes on Sept. 19.
In early September, Poland downed several Russian drones over its territory amid a mass Russian attack on Ukraine, while another drone violated Romanian airspace a few days later.
The Lithuanian military said that the latest incident likely occurred while the Russian Su-30 jet was conducting refueling training over Kaliningrad Oblast, a heavily fortified Russian exclave bordering Lithuania and Poland.
Two Spanish Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jets, deployed in the region as part of a NATO air policing mission, were dispatched to patrol the area.
"Once again, it confirms the importance of strengthening European air defence readiness," Nauseda noted.
Tensions between NATO and Russia have escalated following a series of airspace violations, with several member states urging a tougher response — including the possibility of shooting down intruding aircraft.
Tim Zadorozhnyy
