Russia threatens Baltic states with ‘consequences’ after alleging they let Ukraine use airspace

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova issued thinly veiled threats to the Baltic states on Monday over allegations that they permitted Ukraine to use their airspace to carry out drone strikes on Russian ports — a claim their governments have denied.

“These countries have been issued an appropriate warning. If the regimes in these countries have any sense, they will listen. If not, they’ll have to deal with the consequences,” she told reporters.

In late March, Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia reported drones straying into their airspace from Russian territory. The aircraft were later identified as Ukrainian ones that veered off course as Kyiv ramped up attacks on Russian oil facilities on the Baltic Sea. Ukraine’s foreign minister said that Kyiv has intelligence indicating Moscow intentionally diverted the drones towards the Baltic states.

Ukraine apologized over the incursions, and the Baltic states named Russia’s aggression as the root cause of the incidents. Meanwhile, Moscow sought to exploit the situation via a disinformation campaign, with pro-Kremlin outlets spreading claims that the Baltic states were actively allowing Ukraine to use their airspace to attack Russia.