NATO jets scrambled 5 times to intercept Russian military aircraft in late August

Last week, on 26 August-1 September, NATO jets were scrambled five times from Lithuania to intercept aircraft of the Russian Federation that violated flight rules in the international airspace over the Baltic Sea.

According to the Ministry of National Defence, from Monday to Friday NATO jets daily conducted one interception of Russian IL-20 planes flying in international airspace from the mainland of the Russian Federation to Kaliningrad Oblast without flight plans.

Onboard transponders of Russian aircraft were switched off. In two out of five cases, Russian pilots maintained radio communication with the regional air control centre.

Spanish and Portuguese Air Forces are currently carrying out the NATO Baltic Air Policing Mission in Lithuania.