Sweden on high alert, ready to take down Russian planes violating borders
Minister of Defence Pål Jonsson (Photo: Getty Images)
Sweden is ready to use force if necessary and will shoot down Russian fighters that violate the country’s airspace, states Swedish Defense Minister Pål Jonsons.
The head of the Ministry of Defence stated that no country has the right to violate Sweden’s airspace, and therefore the country has the right to defend its airspace, using force if necessary.
“In the so-called IKFN decree (on the army’s actions in case of violations of Swedish territory), the government gave the Armed Forces instructions on how to deal with intruding aircraft. This includes the right, if necessary, to use weapons - with or without warning,” Jonsson said.
Russian airspace provocations
In September, Russian forces carried out a series of demonstrative violations of NATO countries’ airspace.
At the beginning of September, about 20 Russian drones entered Polish territory and were shot down by NATO air defense and aviation. They did not carry warheads.
On September 19, Russian MiG-31 fighters, launching Kh-47M2 Kinzhal aeroballistic missiles, entered Estonian airspace for 12 minutes. NATO forces scrambled Italian Air Force F-35 fighters to intercept them.
In recent days, Russian fighters also flew over the Polish Petrobaltic drilling platform in the Baltic Sea.
Lithuania suggested responding to such intrusions by shooting down aircraft, similar to Türkiye’s 2015 action against a Russian Su-25 that entered its airspace.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk stated that Poland will destroy any hostile objects entering its airspace.
The UK Ministry of Defence expressed similar intentions.
Russia denied the MiG-31 incursion into Estonia, claiming the flights to Kaliningrad were legal.
