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Lithuania claims airspace invasion by plane from Belarus

Lithuania has notified the Belarusian foreign ministry that a plane briefly invaded its airspace on September 18 and then flew back to Belarus, according to the Baltic News Service (BNS).

In its note, the Lithuanian foreign ministry asks the Belarusian authorities to provide it with relevant information about the incident.

At 4:54 p.m. on September 18, Lithuanian air defense officers detected an unidentified plane that entered the Lithuanian airspace near the village of Maciuiciai in the Salcininkai district, BNS quoted the Lithuanian defense ministry as saying. The plane stayed over the Lithuanian territory for several dozen seconds and then returned to Belarus.

Lithuania's State Border Guard Service has launched an investigation into the unauthorized flight.

When reached by BelaPAN, Andrey Savinykh, spokesman for the Belarusian foreign ministry, would not say whether or not the ministry has received a note from the Lithuanian foreign ministry.

Syarhey Kurmyankow, spokesman for the Belarusian defense ministry, refused to speak about the report.

On July 4, two representatives of Sweden's ad agency Studio Total illegally flew a small plane from Lithuania to Belarus and dropped hundreds of parachute-wearing teddy bears that carried pro-human rights messages on the small city of Ivyanets and Minsk's outskirts before flying back to Lithuania unhindered.

On August 8, the Belarusian authorities asked Lithuania and Sweden to help them investigate the unauthorized flight. News website delfi.lt reported eight days later that the Lithuanian Prosecutor General's Office had begun probing the incident.