Two Russian bomber aircraft flew over the Baltic Sea on Monday and were intercepted by Swedish fighter jets. The incident occurs during a spring marked by further confirmed Russian military activity in the Nordic region and around the Baltic Sea.
On Monday (20 April), two Russian strategic bombers of the type Tu-22M3 flew over the Baltic Sea. The bombers were escorted by two Russian fighter aircraft. Swedish JAS 39 Gripen jets intercepted and shadowed the Russian aircraft. The operation was coordinated with NATO allies, the Swedish Air Force announced on social media.
Nordic Defence Sector (NDS) has previously reported this spring on Russian activity in the Nordic region and around the Baltic Sea.
During the Cold Response exercise in March, Norway identified on two separate occasions an Ilyushin Il-20M in international airspace off Finnmark (northern Norway). The aircraft was shadowed by two Norwegian F-35s before turning north of Sørøya and returning to the Kola Peninsula on both occasions.
In connection with the French naval visit to Malmö (southern Sweden), during which the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle was moored in the city's harbour, the Swedish Armed Forces (Försvarsmakten) were able to disrupt a Russian drone that had conducted an unauthorised flight from the signals intelligence vessel Zhigulevsk in the Øresund strait.