Russian military planes ‘violated Lithuanian airspace’

Russian military planes briefly violated Lithuanian airspace on Thursday evening, the country’s president said, condemning what he called a blatant breach of the Nato and EU member’s territorial integrity.

President Gitanas Nauseda said in a post on X that Lithuania’s foreign ministry planned to summon Russian embassy representatives in Vilnius to protest against the violation.

“This is a blatant breach of international law and territorial integrity of Lithuania,” Mr Nauseda wrote. “Once again, it confirms the importance of strengthening European air defence readiness.”

Russia’s defence ministry rejected the Lithuanian claim that Russian fighter jets had intruded into its airspace.

It said that Su-30 fighter jets had conducted training flights over the Kaliningrad region in strict compliance with the rules.

“The aircraft did not deviate from their flight route or violate the borders of other states, as confirmed by objective monitoring means,” the ministry said.

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

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 Mr Putin of waging a hybrid war in Europe. Moscow denies probing Nato’s defences.

The Lithuanian armed forces said in a statement that at about 6pm local time on Thursday (4pm BST), two Russian military aircraft flew into Lithuanian airspace for about 700 metres (765 yards). 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, Mr Nauseda 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.