The Russian air force flew nuclear-capable bombers over the Baltic Sea, with NATO jets scrambled to track them as Russia issues stark warnings to Finland and Baltic states
NATO fighter jets were deployed to monitor nuclear-capable Russian strategic bombers conducting operations over the Baltic Sea, as regional tensions remain high. Vladimir Putin’s air force carried out the mission above international waters, with Tu-22M3 aircraft flanked by Russian Su-35 fighter jets.
Russia’s defence ministry television channel Zvezda confirmed that NATO fighters had shadowed the bombers. The channel said: “At certain stages of the route, the aircraft were escorted by fighter jets from foreign states.
“All flights are conducted in strict accordance with international rules for the use of airspace.” An F-35, operated by multiple NATO air forces, was clearly visible in Russian footage of the operation.
The Kremlin’s display of strength occurred as Moscow made claims that Finland and Baltic states Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania had allowed Ukrainian drones to transit their airspace to target crucial Russian oil terminals.
Western countries have categorically dismissed the accusations, as has Kyiv. Despite this, prominent Russian officials, including foreign minister Sergei Lavrov, have delivered stern warnings to the West that Moscow might respond.
Russian security council secretary Sergei Shoigu referenced Russia‘s “inherent right” to self-defence, in what many viewed as a thinly-veiled threat of possible military action against Finland, Estonia, Latvia or Lithuania.
Mounting concerns suggest Putin might test NATO’s Article 5 collective defence pledge through a deliberate, restricted territorial assault in the Baltic area – potentially targeting an island.
Sweden’s Defence Chief, Michael Claesson, has cautioned that Russia is scheming to capture an island owned by a Western country in the Baltic Sea as a direct provocation to NATO, reports the Mirror.
Amongst the substantial islands believed to be under threat are Sweden’s Gotland, Denmark’s Bornholm, or Estonia’s Hiiumaa and Saaremaa.
Shoigu said: “Recently, there have been increasingly frequent cases of attacks by Ukrainian drones on Russia via Finland and the Baltic states. As a result, civilians suffer and significant damage is caused to civilian infrastructure.”
Either Western air defences were “highly ineffective…..or the states in question are deliberately providing their airspace, that is, acting as direct accomplices in aggression against Russia”.
He added: “In the latter case, in accordance with international law, Article 51 of the UN Charter on the inherent right of states to self-defence in the event of an armed assault comes into force.”
Referencing Ukrainian strikes that devastated the oil terminals of Ust-Luga and Primorsk, another close Putin associate Nikolai Patrushev – a former FSB security service head – branded NATO members as being “complicit in these crimes”.
Hardline MP Andrei Kolesnik announced that Shoigu was issuing a “final” warning, supported by Putin’s authority, advising Baltic states not to make the “mistake” of acting with “impunity” against Russia.
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