NATO fighter jets escort 8 Russian military aircraft violating flight rules over Baltic states

This is reported by the Lithuanian Defense Ministry.

“On June 19-25, fighter jets performing NATO air patrol functions in the Baltic states took off once to patrol the Baltic Sea and took off 4 times to detect and escort Russian aircraft that violated flight rules,” the statement says. 

On June 19, NATO fighter jets spotted a Russian An-30 reconnaissance aircraft in the air. It flew through the international airspace of the Kaliningrad region of the Russian Federation and returned to the same region. It is noted that the aircraft was flying without a flight plan, with a radar repeater on, and did not maintain radio communication with the regional air traffic control center. 

On June 20, NATO fighter jets spotted and escorted two Russian Su-27 aircraft in the skies over the Baltic Sea. Like the An-30, they were flying without a flight plan and did not maintain proper radio communications. Also on that day, a Tu-134 aircraft was escorted, flying in international airspace from the Kaliningrad region of the Russian Federation to the Russian mainland. It acted in the same way as the previous three aircraft.

Two days later, on June 22, NATO air patrol fighters identified and escorted two Russian Su-27 aircraft, which were also flying without a flight plan, with their radar transponder turned off and not maintaining proper radio communication. On the same day, a Tu-134 aircraft was detected and escorted, flying from mainland Russia to the Kaliningrad region.

On June 23, NATO fighter jets escorted a Russian Il-76 aircraft. It was flying from the Kaliningrad region to the Russian mainland. The plane was flying without a flight plan and without a radar transponder. Unlike the previous ones, it maintained radio communication with the RAF.

• During the day on June 9, the United Kingdom twice raised Royal Air Force Typhoon fighters to intercept Russian aircraft.