NATO fighters – Spanish Eurofighter and Italian F-35 – took off on Thursday to “intercept Russian military aircraft over the Baltic Sea,” the alliance’s air command in Germany (Ramstein base) claims.
“After the detection of three unknown aircraft leaving Kaliningrad on the alliance’s radars, NATO’s Joint Command Center for Air Operations in Germany sent fighters to intercept and identify them,” the statement said.
According to NATO, it was about two Il-22PP electronic warfare aircraft, one Su-24.
In addition, NATO reported on the “interception” in the same zone of the Russian Il-76. NATO noted that the plane allegedly did not provide a flight plan, it could not be identified by a transponder signal, which, according to the alliance, could pose a threat to the safety of civil aviation.
At the same time, the alliance noted that the Russian plane did not cross the airspace of NATO countries, and the operation itself was “routine.”
The Russian side has repeatedly stated that all flights of Russian aircraft have been and are being carried out in strict accordance with international rules for the use of airspace over neutral waters, without violating the borders of other states.