Lithuanian Defense Minister Dovile Sakaliene suggested NATO members should follow Türkiye’s 2015 example and engage Russian military aircraft.
Lithuanian Defense Minister Dovile Sakaliene has urged NATO to shoot down Russian warplanes, following accusations from neighboring Estonia that Russia violated its airspace, which Moscow denies.
Sakaliene stated on X that Russia was “testing” NATO’s borders “for a reason,” adding, “We need to mean business.”
The minister referenced Türkiye’s downing of a Russian bomber over Syria 10 years ago, where Moscow was supporting President Bashar Assad against extremist groups, as an “example.”
Estonia claimed earlier this week that three Russian military aircraft violated its airspace for 12 minutes, calling it an “unprecedented brazen” incursion. Russia’s Defense Ministry refuted this, stating its jets flew over neutral Baltic Sea waters, more than 3km from Estonia’s Vaindloo Island, “without violating Estonian airspace,” during a routine flight.
Tallinn has requested urgent consultations with NATO allies under Article 4 of the treaty. This follows Poland’s accusation that Russia sent at least 19 drones into its airspace, which Moscow also denied. NATO has since increased air patrols over Poland.
In 2015, the Turkish Air Force shot down a Russian Su-24 bomber involved in an anti-terrorist mission in Syria. The aircraft crashed in militant-held territory, and one pilot was killed after ejecting.
The incident caused a major downturn in Turkish-Russian relations, with Moscow imposing trade and tourism sanctions on Ankara. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan apologized in 2016, and Moscow fully lifted the restrictions three years later.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova dismissed Sakaliene’s statement, saying the minister only “demonstrated competence in her own phobias” and expressed hope she would “become accomplished” in her professional field, alluding to the minister’s background in legal psychology.