NATO allies intercept Russian jets over Baltic amid rising tensions

Germans and Swedes were on a mission under NATO Air Policing over the Baltic Sea, and the Baltic countries scrambled their aircraft in emergency mode. The reason was the unresponsive Russian Su-30s, which were identified by allied aircraft.

The incident over the Baltic was reported by the German Luftwaffe in a statement published on X on Saturday afternoon (Eastern Time). "Together with NATO partner Sweden, two German Eurofighters from the NATO Air Policing Balticum mission scrambled today for an Alfa alarm. Two Russian Su-30s were identified. The Su pilots did not want to cooperate, but they were not aggressive. Together we are strong," reads the post.

Such incidents occur regularly over the Baltic Sea.

At the end of July, the Portuguese and Spaniards withdrew their aircraft from Estonia and Latvia. Under commitments to NATO allies, they were responsible for the airspace over the Baltic countries.

A ceremonial changing of the guard accompanied this event. From the beginning of August, Italy and Germany took over joint responsibility for the airspace of the Baltic countries, deploying Eurofighter jets to the eastern flank and also taking command of the operation.