Eurasia Press & News
NATO fighter jets intercepted a Russian military aircraft over the Baltic Sea, the latest in a spate of similar incidents that have grown in frequency during the conflict in Ukraine.
F-16s based in the Baltic region intercepted a Russian IL-20 surveillance plane, Latvia’s army said today on its Twitter account. The encounter took place near Latvia’s territorial waters, it said. Ukraine’s military said Russia’s airforce had put some of its units on high alert. A spokesman for Russia’s armed forces said by phone that he wasn’t able to comment.
The increased activity coincides with wrangling between Russia, the U.S. and the European Union over the future of Ukraine, where a September cease-fire is wobbling. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization tracked Russian military planes that included fighter jets, long-range bombers and tankers over the Baltic region, the North Sea and the Atlantic Ocean for three days in late October.
Russian Air Force command put units of military transport planes near the Moscow and Ryazan regions on high alert, Ukrainian military spokesman Andriy Lysenko told reporters today in Kyiv. IL-76 transport planes may be used to bring troops and equipment to Ukraine’s border, he said.
