Lithuania Accuses Russian Warplanes of Airspace Intrusion

Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda has raised alarms over a recent incident involving Russian military aircraft that briefly encroached upon Lithuania’s airspace. Such actions, he asserted, represent a clear violation of the sovereign borders of a nation that is both a member of the European Union and NATO.

In response to this incursion, which reportedly took place late on Thursday evening (early Friday AEDT), Lithuania’s foreign ministry intends to summon Russian diplomats stationed in Vilnius to formally protest the breach. Nausėda addressed the situation on social media platform X, expressing his disapproval.

“This is a blatant breach of international law and territorial integrity of Lithuania,” Nausėda stated, underscoring the gravity of the situation. He further highlighted the incident as a stark reminder of the necessity for bolstering European air defense capabilities.

As of now, there has been no official response from Russian authorities regarding this incident.

There was no immediate comment from Moscow.

Baltic nations have already been on heightened alert over neighbouring Russia’s aggression on Ukraine.

And in recent weeks, a series of mysterious drone incidents and airspace violations by Russian war planes have fuelled concerns that Russian President Vladimir Putin might be testing NATO’s defensive reflexes.

Some leaders have accused Putin of waging a hybrid war in Europe. Moscow denies probing NATO’s defences.

The Lithuanian armed forces said in a statement that about 6pm. local time on Thursday, two Russian military aircraft flew into Lithuanian airspace for about 700 metres.

The SU-30 aircraft and IL-78 refuelling aircraft flew away after roughly 18 seconds.

The Lithuanian armed forces believe the military planes might have been conducting refuelling exercises in the neighbouring Russian exclave of Kaliningrad.

Two Spanish fighter jets, which had been doing NATO air policing missions, were scrambled and flew out to the area.

Earlier on Thursday, Nausėda attended a summit at the European Council building in Brussels where EU leaders endorsed a plan to ensure that Europe can defend itself against an outside attack by the end of the decade. The plan is dubbed Readiness 2030.