British, German fighter jets intercept Russian aircraft over Baltic Sea

BERLIN (AA) - NATO fighter jets intercepted Russian reconnaissance flights over the Baltic Sea, the German Air Force said on Wednesday.

The Luftwaffe said in a statement that it was alerted after radar tracked three unknown aircraft flying in international airspace over the Baltic Sea.

British and German Eurofighter jets were scrambled to intercept the planes, and they identified two SU-27 Flankers and an IL-20 from Russia which were flying without transponder signals, according to the statement.

On Twitter, the German Air Force shared images of the Russian military aircraft intercepted by the NATO jets.

The air forces of the UK and Germany are operating Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jets out of Amari Air Base in the Baltic state of Estonia as part of a NATO mission to protect the alliance’s territory in eastern Europe.

The Baltic state of Estonia, a NATO member since 2004, has a 294-kilometer (183-mile) border with Russia, its much larger neighbor.