Lithuania summoned a Russian diplomat in protest after two Russian planes entered its airspace on Thursday, the Lithuanian foreign ministry said.
A Sukhoi SU-30 fighter and an IL-78 tanker from the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad passed through Lithuanian airspace for 700 metres (2,300ft) before leaving it 18 seconds later, probably during aerial refuelling training, according to a short statement from the Nato member country’s military.
Later on Thursday, the Lithuanian foreign ministry said it had summoned the charge d’affaires from the Russian embassy and issued a “strong protest”.
Vilnius urged Russia to “immediately explain” the reasons for the violation of Lithuanian airspace and to take “all necessary measures to prevent such incidents from happening again in the future”, the statement said.
Two Spanish air force Typhoon Eurofighters – part of a Nato air patrol mission in the Baltic – were quickly deployed after the planes breached Lithuania’s border.
The three Baltic countries, all Nato members and firm supporters of Ukraine, border either Russia or its ally Belarus and have been exposed to violations of their territory by Russian planes or drones.
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