British and German warplanes intercepted two Russian planes flying near Estonia’s Black Sea – amid fears of escalating tensions in the region, according to media reports.
RAF and German Typhoon jets react to a Russian aerial refueling aircraft after it failed to communicate with Estonian air traffic control in the Baltic Sea and while it was approaching the air NATO division, Daily Mail reported.
Russian Il-78 Midas plane was intercepted while flying between St. Petersburg and Kaliningrad. NATO planes were then diverted to intercept a Russian Antonov 148 military transport plane that was also flying near Estonian airspace, the RAF said in a statement on Wednesday, the Daily Mail reported.
This was the first joint NATO air policing operation conducted by the two countries and took place at a time of rising tensions in the region due to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s continued invasion of Ukraine and threats from Russia, he opposed Kyiv’s Western allies.
Russia today warned that it will ‘consider any action with US weaponry as openly hostile’ following Tuesday’s incident involving a drone in international airspace, which also occurred came when Danish investigators said they had found a . “suspicious object” under the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, some of which was mysteriously destroyed last year, the Daily Mail reported.
