NATO Intercepts Russian Jets Over Baltic Sea, Boosting Eastern Flank Air Power

NATO intercepted Russian strategic bombers and fighter jets that flew over the Baltic Sea on Monday. French Rafale fighters were deployed from a Lithuanian air base as part of NATO’s decades-long air-policing effort. The group included jets from Sweden, Finland, Poland, Denmark, and Romania.

The Russian mission involved two Tu-22M3s and about 10 SU-30s and SU-35s that escorted larger strategic bombers. The flight took over four hours through neutral Baltic Sea airspace. The Russian Defense Ministry confirmed the flight was scheduled and occurred in international waters.

NATO routinely scrambles fighter aircraft to intercept Russian warplanes approaching NATO airspace. Many of these flights are from Kaliningrad, with NATO intercepting Russian planes around 300 times annually. Lithuania’s defense ministry reported four instances where NATO jets were scrambled to intercept Russian aircraft violating flight rules during April 13-19.

In related incidents, in April 2025, two Swedish fighter jets intercepted a reconnaissance plane approaching Polish airspace. The U.S. dispatched two jets to intercept a Russian IL-20 reconnaissance plane over the Baltic Sea the same month. In 2018, a Russian fighter jet closely intercepted a U.S. Navy spy plane above international waters.