The British Air Force announced on Thursday that it, together with Swedish military aircraft, intercepted two Russian aircraft that were close to Swedish airspace.
During the operation, London mobilized Typhoon-type fighters, while Sweden sent Gripen-type aircraft, which were deployed on a NATO air surveillance mission in the Baltic Sea.
According to the British Royal Air Force, the Russian aircraft – an IL20 reconnaissance aircraft and a Su-27 fighter – did not meet international standards and did not communicate with the relevant authorities.
“However, they remained in international airspace and flew in a professional manner,” the British Air Force said, explaining it was “a routine interception”.
The Russian Ministry of Defense has repeatedly stated that flights with Russian military aircraft are conducted in strict accordance with international rules on the use of airspace, the official Russian news agency TASS reports.
In late May, Japan’s General Staff ordered the deployment of fighter jets after two Russian reconnaissance aircraft were detected, one in the Pacific Ocean and the other over the Sea of Japan.
Two days earlier, Russia said it had deployed a fighter jet to intercept two US bombers over the Baltic Sea, which Moscow said were approaching the Russian border.
The number of incidents involving Russian aircraft and aircraft from NATO countries has increased in recent years, even before the start of the conflict in Ukraine.
In mid-May, a similar incident over the Baltic Sea involved a Russian fighter and two French and German military aircraft.
At the beginning of May, it was a Polish border guard aircraft operating in the Black Sea on behalf of the European external border service Frontex, which Warsaw said was in danger from the approach of a Russian fighter.
A month earlier, Russian fighter jets intercepted a US Reaper MQ-9 drone over the Black Sea, which fell into the water after its maneuvers, sparking a moment of heightened tension between Washington and Moscow.
Source: DN
