According to the agency, the fighters of the Danish and Portuguese Air Forces took to the air on October 18 and 29
VILNIUS, November 3. /tass/. NATO fighter jets deployed on a rotating basis at the Lithuanian Zoknai airbase escorted Russian military aircraft twice in October, according to a report published on Wednesday by the Lithuanian Defense Ministry on the situation in the country's airspace.
According to the ministry, Danish Air Force fighters with four F-16 fighters and the Portuguese Air Force with the same equipment, which have been on duty in Lithuania since the beginning of September, took to the air on October 18 and 29 to escort Russian aircraft.
Such support is a routine procedure. In September, it happened nine times, in August - seven, in July - 22 times, and in April it was not required at all. The Russian Defense Ministry has repeatedly stated that flights of Russian military aircraft to and from the Kaliningrad Region are carried out over neutral waters in strict accordance with international rules for the use of airspace.
Control in the skies of the Baltic states, which do not have their own aircraft for this, is carried out by their NATO allies. Since 2004, on the basis of rotation, the fighters of the alliance member countries have been based at the Zoknai base. Since April 2014, the second part of the mission has been stationed at the Emari Air Base in Estonia.
