NATO Jets Intercept Russian Fighter Plane Over Baltic Sea

   (Bloomberg) --- NATO fighter jets intercepted a Russian military airplane over the Baltic Sea today after four such incidents last week as the confrontation over Ukraine between Russia and its Cold War-era foes intensifies.

   The North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s F-16 jets based in the Baltic region intercepted a Russian Su-27 fighter plane, Latvia’s army said today on Twitter. The encounter took place over international waters near Latvia’s territorial seas, it said.

   Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, former Soviet republics that joined NATO in 2004, won more security guarantees from the 28-nation bloc in September after Russian President Vladimir Putin’s annexation of the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine. Military planes and naval vessels have been increasingly moving in the Baltic Sea between St. Petersburg and Russia’s Kaliningrad exclave, while Estonia and non-aligned Finland have reported increased violations of their airspace.

   Putin said in a TV interview with German broadcaster ARD yesterday that Russian planes and ships don’t violate European territory and military exercises take place “exclusively in the international waters and over international airspace.”

   Two Dutch F-16 fighter jets on a NATO mission intercepted a Russian Ilyushin transport plane over the Baltic Sea on Nov. 12 after it approached Estonian and Lithuanian airspace, while Eurofighter Typhoons based in the Baltic region intercepted two Russian Su-27 fighter planes on Nov. 15, according to Latvian and Lithuanian authorities.

   The alliance last month detected and tracked Russian military planes that included fighter jets, long-range bombers and tankers over the Baltic region, the North Sea and the Atlantic Ocean for three days. Interceptions have increased three-fold from last year, it said.

   Russia is engaged in “dangerous brinkmanship” toward NATO and Nordic nations in its military moves, with almost 40 incidents of incursions and close encounters since March, the European Leadership Network, a security research group, said Nov. 10.

   A Russian Kilo-class submarine, the corvette Stoikiy, and another ship were observed yesterday within 10 nautical miles (18.5 kilometers) of Latvian waters, the Latvian army said on Twitter today. The small-scale missile ship Passat and the corvette Steregushiy were observed 37 nautical miles from Lithuanian territorial sea on Nov. 12, the Lithuanian Defense Ministry said in a separate e-mail.