Russian planes have entered NATO airspace; fighter jets scrambled

Two Russian aircraft&mdash;a Su-30 fighter and an Il-78 refueling tanker&mdash;likely on a training mission, briefly violated Lithuanian airspace, entering from Kaliningrad around 6 p.m., the Lithuanian military reported via Delfi.lt.In response, Spanish Eurofighter Typhoons from NATO&rsquo;s Baltic Air Policing mission were scrambled and are patrolling the area, the Lithuanian military said.Following the incident, Prime Minister Ingrida &Scaron;imonytė (Inga Ruginiene) stated that the situation is fully under control.&ldquo;Today there was an incident in which Russian military aircraft briefly violated Lithuanian airspace&mdash;they stayed for less than 20 seconds. I want to assure you: the situation is completely under control,&rdquo; she wrote on her Facebook account.She emphasized that Lithuanian authorities acted precisely&mdash;two Spanish Air Force fighters on a NATO air policing mission scrambled, reached the site of the airspace violation, and are currently patrolling the area.&ldquo;This is another example of the successful and coordinated work of our services,&rdquo; she added.Remo Guidi / Stocktrek Images / ProfimediaRuginienė stated that by violating Lithuanian airspace, Russia is acting like a terrorist state.&ldquo;This incident once again shows that Russia behaves like a terrorist state, disregarding international law and the security of neighboring countries. However, such actions will not shake us &mdash; Lithuania remains strong, united, and ready to defend itself,&rdquo; she said.President Gitanas Nausėda condemned the airspace violation, calling it a gross breach of international law.&ldquo;Lithuania cannot ignore this situation,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;We condemn Russia&rsquo;s actions and the intrusion of its military aircraft into our airspace. We are seeing these incidents becoming more frequent &mdash; not only in Lithuania. Of course, this is a blatant violation of international law and of our territory. We cannot remain silent, and at the same time, this clearly underscores the importance of the issues we are discussing today at the European Council &mdash; the decisions we plan to take are certainly aimed at strengthening Lithuania&rsquo;s air defense,&rdquo; Nausėda said in a statement.According to him, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is expected to summon representatives of the Russian mission soon and deliver a formal protest note.A little over a month ago, three Russian fighter jets entered Estonian airspace, sources familiar with the incident told Politico.The MiG-31s &mdash; heavy interceptors capable of carrying Russia&rsquo;s hypersonic Kinzhal missiles &mdash; flew about five nautical miles into Estonian territory and approached the capital, Tallinn, the sources said.The aircraft reportedly flew for about 12 minutes before NATO dispatched Italian F-35 fighter jets to intercept them.The Russian planes allegedly had no flight plans and their transponders were switched off.Politico reported that the jets initially approached Tallinn.

Russian planes have entered NATO airspace; fighter jets scrambled

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