On December 7 – 13 fighter aircraft conducting the NATO Air Policing Mission in the Baltic states carried out 1 alert scramble to identify and escort military aircraft of the Russian Federation in the international airspace over the Baltic Sea.
On December 8 NATO fighter aircraft intercepted one IL-20 which was identified as IL-18 in the pre-filed plan flying from Kaliningrad to mainland Russia maintaining radio communication with the regional air traffic control centre, without using its onboard transponder.
Illustrative image, credits: Lithuanian Air Force
