"On 17 July, increased flight activity of Air Force aircrafts of the Russian Federation was observed above the Baltic Sea. The flights were carried out above neutral waters. Under certain procedures, fighter jets serving in the NATO air-policing mission were raised to escort the Russian aircrafts," the ministry's Public Relations Department told BNS.
Russia's Defense Ministry has said four of its long-range bombers Tu-22M3 were performing patrol flights above the Baltic and the Black seas on Tuesday to improve pilot skills of flying in a location without any guides and drill interaction tasks with accompanying jets Su-27.
Russia noted that all flights were in line with the international regulations of international air-space above neutral waters and did not breach borders of other states.
On Saturday, Lithuania's Defense Minister Rasa Juknevičienė said at a meeting of the ruling Homeland Union – Lithuanian Christian Democrats (conservatives) in Rukla that NATO jets serving in the Baltic air-policing mission took off every week or even more frequently to escort the Russian military aviation airplanes that have been demonstrating increased activity above the Baltic Sea.
"Every week or even more frequently, our NATO partners serving in the air-policing mission have to take off to escort the flights of Russian military aviation including heavy bombers that have been lately increasingly active above the Baltic Sea," Juknevičienė said.
The NATO air-policing mission, which is stationed in Lithuania's Air Force Aviation Base in Šiauliai, is currently carried out by Poland. The mission was this year extended indefinitely, with the first revision planned for 2018.
