“A military ship of the Russian Federation ordered a Lithuanian civilian ship Lavinia to change its course in the exclusive economic zone of the Republic of Lithuania due to the ongoing rocket firing in the exclusive economic zone of the Russian Federation,” the statement said.
In response to this situation, patrol vessels LNS Aukštaitis was sent to observe further actions of Russian army ships and spotted two Russian army ships in Lithuania’s exclusive economic zone.
The last time civilian ships in Lithuania’s exclusive economic zone were diverted due to shooting exercises in Russia was on September 3.
According to the Lithuanian Ministry of National Defence, foreign ships, including military ones, are allowed to cross Lithuania’s exclusive economic zone, but they must respect the coastal country’s rights and duties and must not restrict the coastal country’s rights in the exclusive economic zone.
“Such activity by the Russian Federation, when business activity in Lithuania’s exclusive economic zone is interrupted, is in breach of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and the principles of god neighborhood,“ the ministry said.
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