In a NATO mission to protect the Baltic skies, the Netherlands' defense ministry said Thursday that two Dutch F-16 fighter jets have cut off a Russian military transport plane. As said by the ministry, the Russian plane was intercepted Wednesday and was escorted out of the Baltic skies.
The Russian Ilyushin transport aircraft was cut off by Dutch fighter jets Wednesday evening after it flew into international no-fly-zone north of Estonia and Lithuania without giving a fight plan, as reported by Yahoo! News. After the interception, the Russian plane flew off in the direction of the Russian city of Kaliningrad.
The Kaliningrad exclave, according to The Moscow Times, is sandwiched between Poland and Lithuania, both NATO members as well as the two Baltic states of Estonia and Latvia.
The Wednesday incident was the first for the Dutch F-16 fighters to intercept a plane. The Dutch fighters are taking part in NATO's Air Policing Task Force and are based in Malbork, Poland.
On Oct. 29, Coalition military spokesperson Lt. Col. Jay Jansen said four groups made up of Tu-95 Bear H strategic bombers, MiG-31 fighters and other Russian warplanes had been conducting large-scale exercises in international airspace.
Meanwhile, Russia's defense ministry made clear their plane remained in international airspace.
"The flight was made on a fixed route over the neutral waters of the Baltic Sea in accordance with international rules on the use of airspace," the Russian ministry said as quoted by state-owned RIA Novosti News Agency.
Tensions have sharply increased between NATO and Moscow since Russia annexed the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine in March, as well as the strains with West over the Ukraine crisis. Aside from the Dutch fighters' interception, NATO officials reported more than 100 intercepts of Russian plane this year.
Last month, Norway scrambled their F-16s to track four Russian bombers. As the Western military coalition has recently reported increased levels of Russian military activity in the Baltic skies.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has devoted to strengthening Russia's armed forces that had been weakened by the economic struggles that followed the collapse of Soviet Union. However, Reuters reported Putin denied any aggression towards NATO.
Not only the Dutch fighters but also other US-led NATO coalition have intensified their vigilance since the Russia-Ukraine crisis broke out earlier this year.
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