Over the past week, NATO fighter jets have carried out several missions over the Baltic Sea to identify unmarked Russian military aircraft in international airspace.
In total, approximately two dozen Russian fighter jets, fighter-bombers, reconnaissance and transport aircraft, as well as a passenger plane, were intercepted and escorted. This information was provided by the Lithuanian Ministry of Defense.
According to reports from n-tv, most of these Russian planes were flying without a flight plan, transponder signal, or radio contact.
The relatively high number of deployments is associated with several military exercises conducted by the Baltic States at the national level and jointly with NATO allies.
The exercises include the annual major maritime exercise "Baltic Operations" (Baltops) and the land exercise "Iron Wolf 2024-1."
Since 2004, NATO has been securing the airspace of the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, as they do not have their own fighter jets.
The NATO allies regularly deploy combat aircraft and personnel to the countries bordering Russia in northeastern Europe. The units are stationed in Šiauliai (Lithuania) and Lielvārde (Latvia).
