Russian military jets violate Lithuanian airspace; Italian fighter jets are scrambled
The aircraft took off in the late afternoon from Šiauliai, Lithuania, on a scramble mission, as part of NATO’s air defence mission on the Alliance’s eastern flank
Key points
Two Eurofighter F-2000 fighter jets from the Italian Air Force’s ‘Baltic Thunder III’ Air Task Force took off in the late afternoon from Šiauliai, Lithuania, on a scramble mission, as part of the NATO air defence mission on the Alliance’s eastern flank, following an airspace violation by two Russian military jets. This is according to information obtained by Ansa from informed sources. The operation was coordinated through NATO’s Combined Air Operations Centre in Uedem, Germany.
Meanwhile, in Ukraine, Russian attacks on the capital continue unabated. During the night of 16–17 September, shortly after midnight, the first explosions in the centre of Kyiv began. An attack involving drones and ballistic missiles struck a school and other buildings, injuring at least 12 people, including two children, according to the city’s mayor Vitali Klitschko. Further damage to buildings was reported in the Holosiivskyi district and in the districts of Brovary and Fastivskyi. Meanwhile, the Ukrainian authorities also reported that three people, including a child, were injured in a Russian attack on a residential building in Odessa, on the Black Sea coast.
A Russian drone also struck a civilian vessel flying the Tanzanian flag, which was heading for one of Ukraine’s ports: the captain was killed and three other crew members were injured. This was reported by the Ukrainian Ministry of Community and Territorial Development, as reported by Ukrainska Pravda. The ministry emphasised that Russia is systematically attacking Ukrainian ports, port infrastructure and civilian merchant ships, posing a threat to international shipping in the Black Sea.
Furthermore, Russian forces have bombed two road bridges over the River Dniester in Ukraine, ‘used for the transit of military supplies from Romania and the port of Izmail’. This was stated by the Ministry of Defence in Moscow, which specified that the raids took place near Mayaky. The Russian ministry added that three drone manufacturing facilities and the De Novo data centre near Kyiv were also targeted. According to the ministry, this is the ‘largest centre ensuring the operation of server equipment used for military purposes, as well as the processing, transmission and storage of data, including intelligence data, for the benefit of the Ukrainian armed forces’.
Ukrainian attacks deep inside Russian territory are also continuing, with the aim of targeting defence infrastructure and oil refineries, inflicting damage on Russian economy and supply chains. In the Yaroslavl region, home to the Slavneft-YANOS refinery – one of Russia’s five largest – a facility has been hit. According to reports from the governor Mikhail Yevrayev, air defences shot down 65 drones during the attack. ‘There is damage to the oil refinery. Operations are underway to quickly extinguish the fires. Furthermore, falling debris has shattered the windows of several residential buildings and damaged cars. There have been no deaths or injuries,” Yevrayev wrote on the Max platform.
