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Sweden has said a Russian military plane has violated Swedish airspace.
The incident happened late on Friday in the Baltic Sea near the island of Bornholm.
In a statement, the Swedish Armed Forces said a Russian AN-30 propeller plane flew toward Swedish airspace and briefly entered it before leaving the area.
The Swedish Air Force scrambled fighter jets which photographed the Russian plane.
Swedish Defence Minister Peter Hultqvist told Swedish public radio that the violation was “unacceptable” and “unprofessional.”
In a similar incident in early March, four Russian warplanes violated Swedish airspace over the Baltic Sea.
Sweden and neighbouring Finland are both considering NATO membership following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Moscow has warned that such a move would have consequences, without giving specifics.
NATO has also been forced to scramble fighter jets stationed near the Baltic and Black seas in recent days to “track and intercept” Russian aircraft near the alliance’s airspace.
NATO has tracked “a number of unidentified” aircraft over the Baltic and Black seas since Tuesday, and in response, it launched allied fighter aircraft from NATO’s Combined Air Operations Centres at Uedem, Germany, and Torrejon, Spain, the organisation said in a statement on Friday.
Poland, Denmark, France, Spain, Romania, and Britain have scrambled fighters to investigate unknown aircraft approaching allied airspace.
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NATO said Russian aircraft never entered alliance airspace, and the the interceptions were conducted in a “safe and routine manner”.
Source: 9News
