NATO Aircraft Accompanied Russian Planes Twice Over Last Week

NATO fighter aircraft on the air police mission in Lithuania took off twice over the last week to identify and accompany Russian planes in its flight over the Baltic Sea, the press service of Lithuania's Defense Ministry said in a statement Tuesday.

VILNIUS (Sputnik) — All the flights of Russian aircraft over the neutral waters are carried out in accordance with the international rules without violation of other states' borders, the Russian Defense Ministry has repeatedly said.

"From July 3 to 9, the fighter aircraft of NATO Air Forces on the air police mission in the Baltic countries took off into the international air space over the Baltic Sea twice for identifying and accompanying Russia's aircraft," the statement reads.

On July 4, the NATO aircraft accompanied the Russian Ilyushin Il-20 airplane on its way from mainland Russia to the country's Kaliningrad Region, the statement specifies.

"The aircraft had its transponder turned off without having submitted the plan of the flight, the communication with the regional control center was maintained," the document noted.

Additionally, on July 7, the NATO aircraft accompanied Il-20 on its way from the Kaliningrad Region. Il-20 had not submitted the flight plan and had its transponder turned off, the statement reads.