Russian helicopters ‘crossed into Lithuanian territory’

The Ministry was notified about three helicopters possibly flying into the Lithuanian territory over Lake Vištytis which lies on the border between Lithuania and Russia‘s Kaliningrad.

The helicopters turned around and flew back to Kaliningrad immediately, according to the ministry.

Renatas Požėla, head of the State Border Guard Service, says that the aircraft were spotted by border guards.

“We visually recorded a possible [violation] and handed over the information to the air forces. An officer assessed the information, including the possibility that it was a border violation, but we are talking only about a possibility, it is up to the armed forces to confirm or deny it,” Požėla told DELFI.

The helicopters were not marked, he added.

Captain Tomas Pakalniškis, spokesman for the Joint Staff, says that the army has so far only the data supplied by the Border Guard Service.

“So far we can only go by the information of the border patrols who visually spotted the three helicopters. No devices recorded them, maybe because they were flying very low and close to the border, perhaps not even crossing the border – so far we only have suspicions,” Pakalniškis told DELFI.

“We cannot identify the models of the helicopters, since they were spotted from a long distance. But who else could have been flying from the side of Kaliningrad if it weren’t Russians,” he added.