Lithuania slams airspace incursion denied by Russia

Lithuania slams airspace incursion denied by Russia
by AFP Staff Writers
Vilnius (AFP) Oct 23, 2025

Lithuania summoned a Russian diplomat in protest over what it said was the entry of two Russian planes into its airspace Thursday, though Moscow denied any such violation.

A Sukhoi SU-30 fighter and an IL-78 tanker from the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad passed through Lithuanian airspace for 700 metres (2,300 feet) before leaving it after 18 seconds, probably during aerial refuelling training, according to a short statement from the NATO member country's military.

Later 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.

Russia's defence ministry later denied the incursion had taken place.

"The flights were conducted in strict compliance with the rules for using airspace above Russian territory. The aircraft did not deviate from their route and did not violate the borders of other states," it said on Telegram.

Two Spanish airforce 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.

In September, three Russian MiG-31 fighter jets entered Estonian airspace over the Gulf of Finland and remained there for approximately 12 minutes.

That incident prompted Tallinn to request an extraordinary meeting of the UN Security Council and the activation of Article 4 of the Atlantic Treaty, which provides for consultations between allies in the event of a threat to one of its members.

Two Russian planes make hurried incursion into Lithuanian airspace
Warsaw (AFP) Oct 23, 2025 - Two Russian planes from the Kaliningrad exclave briefly entered Lithuanian airspace Thursday, the Lithuanian military said.

A Sukhoi SU-30 fighter and an IL-78 tanker passed through Lithuanian airspace for 700 metres (2,300 feet) before leaving it 18 seconds later, probably during aerial refuelling training, according to a short statement from the NATO member country.

Two Spanish airforce Typhoon Eurofighters -- part of a NATO air patrol mission in the Baltic -- were quickly deployed.

In September, three Russian MiG-31 fighter jets entered Estonian airspace over the Gulf of Finland and remained there for approximately 12 minutes.

This incident prompted Tallinn to request an extraordinary meeting of the UN Security Council and the activation of Article 4 of the Atlantic Treaty, which provides for consultations between allies in the event of a threat to one of its members.

Lithuanian defence minister resigns in military spending dispute
Vilnius (AFP) Oct 22, 2025 - Lithuania's Defence Minister Dovile Sakaliene resigned Wednesday following a dispute with the prime minister over military spending in the key NATO member.

In a Facebook post, Sakaliene said she and Prime Minister Inga Ruginiene, who is from the same Social Democratic Party (LSDP), have "fundamentally different ideas on how to strengthen defence".

Ruginiene described the resignation as "inevitable", stressing that she could not accept that "misunderstandings and problems arise in an area as important as defence".

Lithuania, which borders Belarus and the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad, boosted its military following Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, fearing it could possibly be Moscow's next target.

The dispute erupted after the minister and prime minister attended a meeting last week with defence analysts, after which some participants said they no longer expected the government to keep its promise to spend five percent of GDP on defence.

On October 15, Ruginiene announced that the draft state budget for 2026 does include 4.8 billion euros ($5.6 billion) in defence, or 5.4 percent of GDP, making Lithuania one of NATO's top spenders.

On Wednesday, the prime minister, quoted by the Baltic news agency BNS, expressed her determination to work to ensure that the defence budget "continues to increase".

She also accused Sakaliene of showing a "total lack of will" to cooperate.

Lithuania is governed by a coalition of parties, primarily the LSDP and the populist Dawn of Nemunas party.

At a summit in June in The Hague, NATO set a new target for its 32 member countries to devote five percent of GDP to defence by 2035.

In 2024, more than a quarter of NATO countries remained below the two percent target that had been the previous objective, according to the alliance's latest estimates.