MOSCOW, April 1. /TASS/. The Baltic countries are providing airspace to Ukrainian drones for strikes on Russia’s Leningrad Region because they are afraid to directly engage in combat operations themselves, Military-Political Analysis Bureau head Alexander Mikhailov told TASS.

"It is unlikely that the Latvians, Lithuanians, or Estonians themselves would dare to launch air strikes against Russia from their territory, they are using Ukraine for this purpose. After all, providing airspace and launching strikes are completely different things," he said.

In his opinion, Kiev is actively exploiting this, including with the aim of drawing NATO countries directly into the conflict. "While Zelensky remains at the helm of the regime in Kiev, his entire repressive and terrorist apparatus operates and will operate only within the framework of the confrontation with the Russian Federation," the expert added.

The most massive unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) attack on the Leningrad Region occurred during the week of March 23-29, during which Russian air defenses downed 235 enemy drones.

According to Alexander Stepanov, a military expert at the Institute of Law and National Security at the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), the Ukrainian fixed-wing drones that attacked the Leningrad Region could have been launched from Baltic territory.