NATO fighter jets conducting air policing missions in the Baltic states scrambled three times last week to identify and escort Russian military aircraft, Lithuania's Ministry of Defence announced, according to LRT.
On 27 October, NATO aircraft took off to identify a Russian Il-20 reconnaissance plane flying through international airspace from mainland Russia to Kaliningrad Oblast. The aircraft was operating without an activated radar transponder and without a flight plan, though it maintained radio contact with the Regional Air Traffic Control Centre (RSVS).
Two days later, NATO fighters scrambled again to identify an Il-78 tanker aircraft traveling from Kaliningrad Oblast to mainland Russia.
On 30 October, NATO jets identified and escorted a Russian Il-76 transport aircraft, also flying from Kaliningrad Oblast to mainland Russia. Both the tanker and transport aircraft flew with their radar transponders activated and maintained radio communication with RSVS, but only the tanker had filed a flight plan, the Lithuanian defence ministry specified.
The incidents form part of a broader pattern of Russian military flights near NATO airspace. On 28 October, a pair of Polish MiG-29 fighters intercepted a Russian Il-20 over the Baltic Sea. Polish MiG-29s scrambled again on 30 October to intercept another Russian reconnaissance aircraft over the Baltic Sea, marking the third such interception by Polish forces within a week when they scrambled once more on 31 October.
