UK Fighter Jets Twice Intercepted Russian Military Aircraft Over Baltic - Defenсe Ministry

LONDON (Sputnik) - UK Royal Air Force Typhoon fighter jets scrambled twice on 26 June from Amari airbase in Estonia to intercept Russian military aircraft flying close to Estonian airspace, the UK Ministry of Defence reported.
Sputnik

"Typhoons first intercepted a Russian military transport aircraft before later intercepting two Russian Flanker fighters and another military transport aircraft", the ministry said in a statement.

It noted that those had been the 10th and 11th such scrambles of Royal Air Force fighter jets to intercept Russian aircraft since the United Kingdom took over NATO air policing operation in the Baltic on 30 May.

The ministry also stressed that in all cases, the Russian aircraft did not violate the borders, and the crews of all the aircraft kept the vehicles at a safe distance from each other.

The statement comes after a Spanish news outlet reported earlier in June that a Russian Su-24 bomber was spotted flying close to a Spanish aircraft carrier participating in NATO naval exercises in the Baltic Sea.

On 30 May, the General Staff of the Spanish Defence Ministry stated that Spanish EF-18 fighter jets intercepted a Russian An-12 military aircraft in international airspace "controlled by one of the Baltic states".

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