VILNIUS, February 2. /TASS/. NATO fighter jets, rotationally stationed at Lithuania’s Zokniai Air Base, escorted Russian military aircraft seven times in January near Lithuanian airspace, according to the Lithuanian Defense Ministry.

"The first escort occurred on January 5. Following that, the fighter jets were scrambled between one and three times weekly," the ministry’s statement reads.

This air escort procedure is a routine measure for airspace security. NATO forces conducted similar interceptions 15 times in October, 11 times in November, and 13 times in December.

The Russian Defense Ministry has consistently maintained that Russian military aircraft operating to and from the Kaliningrad Region fly over international waters, strictly adhering to international airspace regulations. NATO allies oversee the skies over the Baltic states, which do not possess their own air forces. Since 2004, fighter jets from alliance member countries have been stationed at Zokniai Air Base on a rotational basis. In 2014, a second rotation mission was established at Amari Air Base in Estonia.