A fighter jet had risen to accompany a German Lockheed P-3C Orion maritime reconnaissance aircraft, the Ministry of Defense announced in Moscow on Monday. The Bundeswehr machine turned off before reaching Russian airspace. Then the Su-27 fighter jet returned to its base airport. “A violation of the Russian state border was prevented,” emphasized the ministry.
A spokesman for the German Navy told the German Press Agency that it was a routine reconnaissance flight. A Russian interceptor then took off in the airspace near Kaliningrad to observe. This was also a routine reaction. Nothing happened.
Tensions in the airspace over the Baltic Sea between NATO forces and Russia have been mounting since the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine began in February last year. With the Kaliningrad exclave, Moscow has a well-developed military outpost in the region. The Russian Baltic Sea fleet also has its home there.
