NATO fighters on Monday intercepted Russian strategic bombers and other military aircraft over the Baltic Sea, the Associated Press reported, citing a statement from the French contingent participating in NATO's Baltic Air Policing Mission, BTA reports.
The "Rafale" took off from a Lithuanian air base, where they are stationed as part of the alliance's ongoing mission since 2004.
The Russian strategic bombers were escorted by two supersonic Tu-22M3 aircraft and about 10 Su-30 and Su-35 fighters.
The Russian Defense Ministry said the bombers were performing scheduled flights in the airspace over neutral waters of the Baltic Sea. The flights lasted more than four hours, the defense ministry added. "In certain parts of the route, the long-range bombers were accompanied by fighter jets of other countries. "The crews of long-range aircraft regularly perform flights over neutral waters of the Arctic, the North Atlantic, the Pacific Ocean, as well as over the Baltic and Black Seas. "All flights of Russian aerospace forces are carried out in strict compliance with international airspace rules," the statement added.
NATO regularly scrambles fighter jets to intercept Russian military aircraft approaching the airspace of alliance member states, the AP noted. NATO says intercepted Russian military aircraft often have their transponders turned off, do not contact controllers and do not file flight plans. Many of these aircraft are flying to and from the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad.
The Lithuanian Defense Ministry said that between April 13 and 19, there were four cases of NATO fighter jets being scrambled to intercept Russian military aircraft that violated flight rules.