NATO air-policing jets guarding the Baltic skies were last week scrambled four times from Lithuania to intercept Russian warplanes flying in the international airspace above the Baltic Sea.
According to the Lithuanian Defense Ministry, all four Russian aircraft were transport airplanes flying with pre-filed flight plans, maintained contact with flight controllers but had their onboard transponders off.
They were flying from mainland Russia to the Russian Kaliningrad region and back.
Participants of NATO’s air policing mission in the Baltic countries currently include Danish fighter jets based at the Zokniai air base near Siauliai in Lithuania and Italian fighter jets based at the Amari air base in Estonia.