British and German Typhoon fighters intercepted Russian planes flying near Estonian airspace.
This was reported in the press service of the Royal Air Force of Great Britain (RAF).
It is noted that NATO fighters intercepted off the coast of Estonia for the second time this week.
"On March 17, a pair of NATO aircraft took off to intercept a Russian Tu-134 military passenger plane, known as the Krusty; it was accompanied by two Su-27 Flanker fighter jets and an An-12 Kub military transport plane," the message reads.
Russian planes were intercepted in the immediate vicinity of Estonian airspace.
The British Air Force clarified that its military aircraft, together with the German Air Force, are conducting joint NATO air patrols, and the interception is "a normal NATO mission for Typhoons and is confirmation that the United Kingdom and Germany, together with other NATO allies, are supporting their Estonian ally in this tense time".
It will be recalled that on March 14, two Typhoon
jets
- one British and one German - responded to the Russian plane after it failed to communicate with the Estonian air traffic controller near the airspace of the NATO country.
Such interceptions happened often even before Russia invaded Ukraine.
NATO planes made about 400 interceptions of Russian planes annually.
But the incident came amid heightened tensions following a collision between a Russian plane and an American drone over the Black Sea.
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