Russian warplane flew over Baltic Sea unannounced Sunday, German air force says
PHOTO CAPTION: Illustrative photo — A German Eurofighter Typhoon takes off from the flight line at Tactical Air Force Wing 73, Laage, Germany, during exercise Air Defender 2023 (AD23), June 19, 2023. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Tech. Sgt. Sarah M. McClanahan via U.S. Defense Visual Information Distribution Service - DVIDS)
BERLIN/FRANKFURT - Germany's air force on Sunday morning sent two Eurofighters to track a Russian IL-20m military aircraft that had entered neutral airspace over the Baltic Sea, it said, before handing the escort over to NATO partners in Sweden.
"Once again, our quick reaction alert force, consisting of two Eurofighters, was tasked by NATO with investigating an unidentified aircraft without a flight plan or radio contact in international airspace," Germany's air force said in a statement.
"It was a Russian IL-20M reconnaissance aircraft. After visual identification, we handed over escort duties for the aircraft to our Swedish NATO partners and returned to Rostock-Laage."
NATO's North Atlantic Council will meet on Tuesday to discuss Russia's violation of Estonian airspace, two officials familiar with the matter told Reuters on Sunday.
Tallinn said three Russian MiG-31 fighter jets had entered Estonian airspace without permission on Friday and stayed for a total of 12 minutes before they were forced to withdraw.
(Reporting by Klaus Lauer and Christoph Steitz; Editing by Hugh Lawson // REUTERS)
