NATO fighter jets intercept 10 Russian planes over Baltic region in week
NATO flag (Getty Images)
Over the past week, NATO fighter jets scrambled three times to intercept Russian aircraft over the Baltic region. In total, they managed to intercept 10 Russian military aircraft, according to the Lithuanian Ministry of Defense.
On August 13, NATO fighters were deployed to identify a Russian Il-20 aircraft. The plane was flying in international airspace from Russia's Kaliningrad region and then returned without a flight plan, without an active radar transponder, and without maintaining radio communication with regional air traffic control.
On August 14, NATO jets scrambled again to identify two Russian TU-22M3 bombers, two SU-30, two SU-35, and two SU-27 fighter jets.
The TU-22M3, SU-30, and SU-35 aircraft were flying in international airspace from mainland Russia and back. Meanwhile, two SU-27s were circling in the airspace near the Kaliningrad region. None of the Russian planes had flight plans, active radar transponders, or maintained radio communication.
For the third time, on August 16, NATO fighters took off to identify another Russian Il-20 aircraft flying from Kaliningrad to mainland Russia. Once again, the plane did not communicate via radio, had no flight plan, and no active transponder.
Russia has repeatedly violated NATO airspace with its military aircraft, including over new NATO members Sweden and Finland.
Also, in the declaration of the NATO Washington Summit, held last month, it was emphasized that Russia's aggressive hybrid actions could force the Alliance to invoke Article 5. This article states that an attack on one NATO member will be considered an attack on all members and includes provisions for collective response.
Recently, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that Ukraine and NATO countries are working on implementing a joint defense system against Russian missiles.
