Two Russian military aircrafts Il-76 invaded the airspace of Lithuania on September 16, while Russian-Belarusian West-2017 military exercise is under way, as Delfi.lt reports with a link to Lithuanian MFA.
The Russian military aircrafts were flying over Lithuanian territory for two minutes. They were heading towards one of the airfields in Kaliningrad region from the main territory of Russia.
MFA of Lithuania handed a protest note to the Ambassador of Russia due to the incident, demanding explanations and taking measures for non-repetition of such incidents in future.
Previously the MFA of Lithuania called on Russia to cancel West-2017 drills.
As it was reported earlier Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko claimed that the Russian-Belarusian West-2017 drills threaten Ukraine. He noted that Ukraine will control and monitor for withdrawal of all equipment after the drills.
Head of the General Staff Viktor Muzhenko noted that Ukraine prepares for different scenarios due to the West-2017 drills. According to him, these drills have a broader context than the announced maneuvers in the territory of Belarus. The aim of them is to train the Russian troops for the offensive actions and carry a threat both for NATO countries and former Soviet-era countries.
