NATO fighters escort Russian military aircraft 19 times in March

NATO fighters, deployed on a rotational basis at the Zokniai (Šiauliai) airbase in Lithuania, escorted Russian military aircraft near the Baltic republic’s airspace 19 times in March, the Lithuanian Ministry of Defence has reported.

“The first escort took place on March 4. It involved an An-26 flying from mainland Russia to the Kaliningrad region. Afterwards, the fighters were scrambled three to six times per week,” the statement said.

The escort procedure is a routine control measure. In December, NATO forces conducted 13 escorts, in January seven, and in February again 13.

The Russian Ministry of Defence has repeatedly stated that Russian military flights to and from the Kaliningrad region are conducted over neutral waters in strict compliance with international airspace rules.

Airspace monitoring for the Baltic states, which lack their own fighter aircraft, is carried out by their NATO allies. Since 2004, NATO member states’ fighters have been deployed on a rotational basis at the Zokniai airbase. On March 31, a contingent of the French Air Force with four Dassault Rafale fighters and a Romanian Air Force contingent with six F-16 Fighting Falcons began their duty.

In 2014, the second part of the mission was deployed at the Ämari airbase in Estonia.

By Vugar Khalilov