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Photo from ac.nato.int
NATO jet fighters belonging to Germany were forced to take off from the Amari Air Base three times to accomplish an interception mission when four Russian planes entered international airspace over the Baltic Sea without warning.
“On Nov. 21, the NATO Air Force jet fighters accompanied four Russian military aircraft: An-26, MiG-29, and two Il-76,” NATO Allied Air Comand reported,
“NATO radars picked up the signal of an aircraft flying out of Kaliningrad near the Lithuanian coastline at 8:30 a.m. local time. Since the plane had not filed a flight plan, two European jet fighters took to the sky and conducted a visual identification of a Russian AN-26 transport aircraft an hour later. A second track was picked up at approximately 10:30 a.m. and a Eurofighter launched to escort a Russian MiG-29 fighter aircraft flying close to NATO airspace. Later the two Russian IL-76 strategic transport aircraft, which had not filed a flight plan. After being met in the sky by NATO fighters, the Russian planes continued their flight towards Kaliningrad. All Russian aircraft involved operated in international airspace. The intercepts conducted by NATO were a routine and precautionary measure,” the message on the website reads.
The German planes accompanied the Russian ones until they returned to Russian airspace.
