Lithuanian MoD: NATO fighters escorted Russian aircraft over the Baltic five times last week
NATO jets escorted Russian military aircraft over the Baltic Sea on five occasions last week, BaltNews reported with reference to the Lithuanian Ministry of Defense.
On June 23rd, NATO fighters escorted a Russian IL-20 cargo plane flying in international airspace from the Kaliningrad exclave. The aircraft was following its flight plan, but its transponder was turned off. A Russian Tu-134 cargo plane was also intercepted on Thursday for the same reason.
On the same day, a Russian Su-27 fighter also flew over the Baltic with its transponder turned off, and was therefore escorted by the Alliance’s jets.
On Friday, NATO fighters escorted an IL-18 cargo plane, and on Saturday jets intercepted another IL-20.