Berlin — Two German air force jets from a base in Schleswig-Holstein were scrambled at the weekend after a Russian reconnaissance aircraft was seen approaching over the Baltic Sea, dpa has learned.
The Russian jet was identified in international airspace off the island of Rügen on Saturday.
The German fighter jets ended up accompanying the Russian aircraft away from Germany.
In a similar incident, a Russian aircraft violated Denmark's airspace, prompting the Danish Foreign Ministry to summon the Russian ambassador to the country for talks on Monday.
Both Denmark and Sweden allege that a Russian AN-30 propeller plane entered their airspace last Friday night, when the aircraft was flying east of the Danish Baltic Sea island of Bornholm, which lies off Sweden's south-eastern coast.
Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine more than two months ago, there has been intense debate in Sweden, as well as in neighbouring Finland, about joining NATO.
Concerns were already raised in early March when four Russian fighter jets penetrated Swedish airspace.
©2022 dpa GmbH. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
