Russian Il-76 aircraft has deviated to the side of the air borders of Lithuania with permission of the Manager in Vilnius to fly around the storm front. This was stated in the defense Ministry, reports TASS.
16 September, two Il-76 flying from Rostov to Kaliningrad region over neutral waters of the Baltic sea, in two minutes it was in the airspace of Lithuania. Monday, September 18, the Lithuanian foreign Ministry summoned Russian Ambassador Alexander Udaltsov and handed him a protest note over the incident.
The defense Ministry explained that the crew asked Vilnius for this maneuver to bypass the storm front. “After obtaining permission from the aircraft momentarily deviated from the route, and having flown around the dangerous area, immediately returned to the main route,” says the Agency.
“We regard the claim of the Lithuanian side about the alleged willful infringement by the Russian planes of air space in the framework of the exercises “West-2017″ as a politicized and untrue,” — said the defense Ministry.
Earlier Monday, the President of Lithuania Dalia Grybauskaite has complained to the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres on the aggressive nature of the exercises “West-2017”.
These maneuvers are from 14 to 20 September, the nine polygons on the territory of Belarus and Russia (one of them in Kaliningrad region). They attended to 12.7 thousand soldiers involved 70 aircraft and helicopters, 680 pieces of equipment. In the Russian defense Ministry say that the exercises are purely defensive in nature.