Two Russian jets briefly violate Lithuanian airspace
Su-30 aircraft (Photo: Wikipedia)
Two Russian military aircraft spent 18 seconds in Lithuanian airspace on Oct. 23, Lithuania’s military said, as reported by Bloomberg.
According to the report, NATO jets were scrambled to intercept a Su-30 fighter jet and an Il-78 tanker aircraft that flew over Lithuania about 700 meters from the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad. A Spanish-led NATO air-policing detachment continues to patrol the area.
President Gitanas Nauseda called the event “a blatant breach of international law and territorial integrity of Lithuania.”
“Once again, it confirms the importance of strengthening European air defense readiness,” Bloomberg quoted the president.
In recent months, Russia has repeatedly violated the airspace of NATO member states. Russian drones and warplanes have been recorded near or over Poland, Romania, Estonia, Denmark, the United States, France, Germany, and other countries.
Overnight on Sept. 10, about 20 Russian UAVs crossed into Polish airspace, many from Belarus. Four were downed.
On Sept. 19, three Russian MiG-31 fighter jets violated Estonian airspace for 12 minutes over the Gulf of Finland near the island of Vaindloo, about 81 kilometers from Helsinki. It was Russia’s fourth airspace violation of Estonia since the start of 2025, and the first involving three fighters at once.
On Sept. 24, the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) detected two Russian Tu-95 bombers and two Su-35 fighters near Alaska.
A day later, NATO Air Command reported that three MiG-31s, along with Su-30 and Su-35 fighters, flew over the Baltic Sea near Latvian airspace. Hungarian Gripen jets scrambled from the Šiauliai Air Base in Lithuania to intercept them.
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