Baltic Sea, 20 Jun 2026 - third AN-30 sortie in three weeks

NATO fighters scrambled on June 20, 2026, to identify an AN-30, an Su-24MR and an Su-35 flying from Kaliningrad to mainland Russia, Lithuania's Ministry of National Defence reported. It was the AN-30's third logged sortie in three weeks, by AirVeto's reading of the ministry's weekly interception data.

The AN-30 appeared in the ministry's data three times in three weeks

The ministry's weekly releases put the AN-30 in the air on three dates. On 2 June it flew between mainland Russia and Kaliningrad, with no transponder, no flight plan and no radio contact. On 10 June it flew from Kaliningrad and back on the same terms, alongside an Su-30.

On 20 June it flew from Kaliningrad to mainland Russia, with an Su-24MR and an Su-35, and again with its transponder off, no flight plan and no radio contact. LRT described the AN-30 as a reconnaissance aircraft.

AirVeto searched 11 of the ministry's weekly releases between May and September, among them the weeks of 11-17 May, 29 June to 5 July and 21-27 September. Within those 11, the AN-30 appears only in the three June weeks.

Six of the week's seven aircraft flew with transponders off and no radio contact

NATO's Baltic Air Policing detachment was alerted four times in the week of 15 to 21 June. Seven aircraft were involved, and six flew with their transponders off, no flight plan and no radio contact with the regional air traffic control centre.

On 16 June, an Su-24MR flew from Kaliningrad and back on those terms. The same scramble identified a Tu-214 flying from mainland Russia to Kaliningrad with its transponder on and radio contact kept, but no flight plan. On 19 June, an Su-34 and an Su-30SM made separate round trips from Kaliningrad, both with transponders off, no flight plans and no radio contact.

The Su-24MR therefore flew twice in the week, on 16 and 20 June.

Weekly alerts fell from seven to four while the AN-30 kept flying

The ministry counted seven alerts for international flight regulation violations in the week of 1 to 7 June and five in the week of 8 to 14 June. The week of 15 to 21 June brought four. The AN-30 appeared in each of those three weeks.

Wind over Kaliningrad at the start of 20 June

The ministry names the date but no time, so the wind snapshot is for 00:00 local time, the start of that day. At 2,000 m it blew from the NW at 18 km/h. At 3,000 m it blew from the WNW at 21 km/h.

This reconstruction is based on the Lithuanian Ministry of National Defence's weekly interception data, LRT's reporting and AirVeto's wind-model data for June 20, 2026. Methodology: methodology.

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Kaliningrad's other airspace events are collected in the Kaliningrad hub. The same air-policing detachment shot down a drone over Latvia on 8 June: Nautrēni drone shoot-down, June 8, 2026.

The full archive of Lithuanian drone and airspace-alert incidents is collected at Dronai Lietuvoje (in Lithuanian).