Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kęstutis Budrys said Monay that Vilnius cannot rule out the possibility that Russia deliberately targeted Lithuania’s embassy in Kyiv when two Russian missiles damaged the diplomatic mission over the weekend.
“That possibility cannot be ruled out, although we cannot confirm it at this stage,” Budrys told LRT TV.
The minister said there were no significant strategic facilities near the embassy other than a power plant about 1.5 kilometres away that Russia has previously sought to strike.
“Everything else there is residential housing, except for our embassy,” Budrys said. “Perhaps the aim was to exert pressure or intimidate us, but it has been completely unsuccessful. Our resolve has only grown stronger.”
Two Russian missiles landed about 5 metres and 150 metres from Lithuania’s embassy in Kyiv’s Pechersk district during overnight strikes on Saturday, damaging window frames, shattering glass and causing damage to the roof and solar panels, Lithuania’s Foreign Ministry said. No embassy staff were injured.
Following the attack, Lithuania summoned a representative of the Russian Embassy in Vilnius to deliver a formal diplomatic protest, saying Moscow’s actions constituted a flagrant violation of the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.
Budrys said Russia had offered no apology for the incident. He said the embassy had been struck by Zircon hypersonic missiles, weapons designed primarily to target ships, while adding that Lithuania does not know the intended target of the attack.
According to Budrys, the Russian representative argued that Lithuania had been warned of the danger because all of Kyiv had been under threat.
“We treat such warnings as a threat,” the minister said.
In its diplomatic note, Lithuania said it would seek compensation from Russia for the damage caused to the embassy and reserved the right to take further retaliatory measures.
“We have planned measures that we could take in response to Russian actions directed against us,” Budrys said. “I would not like to go into details now, but we have the capabilities, the tools and the will to defend ourselves if necessary.”
Further reading
Newsletter
Every Friday morning.
