London - Saba:
The British Ministry of Defense announced on Sunday that its fighter jets intercepted the trajectory of two Russian aircraft over the Baltic Sea, near NATO airspace, in two separate incidents last Tuesday and Thursday.
According to a British defense statement, two British Typhoon fighters were sent to intercept a Russian Ilyushin IL-20M "Kot-A" spy plane on Tuesday, adding that two days after that incident, two fighters also intercepted the path of an unknown aircraft leaving the airspace of the Russian province of Kaliningrad.
The British Secretary of State for Armed Forces said
"Britain is stepping up its efforts to reassure its allies and protect its national security in the face of growing security threats."
"This mission demonstrates our ability to work together with Sweden, NATO's newest member, to defend its airspace wherever , whenever needed to keep us safe at house and strong abroad," he added.
It is noteworthy that Kaliningrad is a Russian administrative province, which has no land borders with Russia, and is 300 kilometers from Russian territory to the west, but it overlooks the Baltic Sea and is located in the heart of NATO countries between Lithuania to the north and east and Poland to the south.
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