Lithuania protests to Russia over attacks on Ukraine and Romania
On 3 June, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned a representative of the Embassy of the Russian Federation to the Republic of Lithuania and handed a note of protest over the latest Russian attacks on civilians in Ukraine, as well as last week's incident when a Russian drone that entered the Romanian airspace and hit an apartment block in Galati.
During the night from 1 to 2 June, Russian missiles and combat drones were launched at Kyiv, Dnipr, Kharkiv, and other parts of Ukraine. The drone attacks on Ukraine continued last night. Dozens of Ukrainian civilians were killed, and hundreds were wounded. Dozens of homes, health care facilities, commercial and other civilian infrastructure were destroyed as a result of Russia's attack.
The note to Russia states that deliberate terror against civilians and infrastructure is a gross violation of international humanitarian law and constitutes a war crime that has no statute of limitations. Although Moscow threatened strikes in advance and warned foreign nationals, including diplomats, to leave Kyiv, this does not grant the political and military leadership of the Russian Federation immunity to evade accountability for planning and committing war crimes.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs also stresses that the full-scale war waged by the Russian Federation against its sovereign neighbour, Ukraine, poses a threat to other states and the security of their people. The repeated incursions of Russian drones into the territories of the Baltic states, Poland, Moldova, Romania, and other states demonstrate the Russian leadership's indifference to human lives, national sovereignty, and the norms of international law. The latest such incident, which took place overnight from 28 to 29 May, had serious consequences for Romania, injuring two civilians on the ground and damaging an apartment block.
The Russian representative was told that Lithuania would continue to strongly support Ukraine in its fight for freedom, independence, and territorial integrity, as was reaffirmed at the joint meeting of the Lithuanian and Ukrainian Governments in Vilnius on 1 June. Lithuania, together with its partner countries, will continue to consistently pursue full compensation from the Russian Federation to Ukraine and its population for the damage caused by violations of international law through the already established Register of Damage for Ukraine and the International Claims Commission for Ukraine, which is currently being established.