Sweden intercepts several Russian fighter planes flying over the Baltic Sea

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The Swedish Ministry of Defense reported this Tuesday that the Air Force has intercepted two Russian Tu-22M strategic bombers and another pair of Su-27 fighter jets that were escorting them while flying over the Baltic Sea.

Given these events, the Swedish military authorities have taken off two of their JAS Gripen fighters to escort the Russian planes back into their country’s airspace. The head of the Swedish General Staff, Denis Hedstrom, has acknowledged that these events are common.

For their part, the Finnish authorities have put an F-18 into the air which, shortly after, has been replaced by a Dutch NATO F-35. The bilateral cooperation “ensured smooth interaction between allied combat aircraft,” the Swedish Defense Ministry said in a statement.

Meanwhile, the Russian Ministry of Defense has reported on its social networks that the two bombers, accompanied by fighter jets, have carried out a scheduled flight over neutral waters of the Baltic for more than five hours.

“At certain stages of the route, the long-range bombers were accompanied by foreign fighters,” the Russian Defense Ministry reported on its official Telegram channel, where it stressed that this maneuver was carried out “in strict accordance with international standards.” for the use of airspace”.