On April 3–9 fighter aircraft conducting the NATO Air Policing Mission in the Baltic states were scrambled twice to patrol the airspace border of the Baltic states , Belarus and the Russian Federation, and identify and escort aircraft of the Russian Federation flying in violation of flight rules in international airspace over the Baltic Sea.
On April 7 fighter aircraft of the NATO Air Policing Detachment were scrambled to intercept two Su-27 aircraft flying from Kaliningrad without pre-filed flight plans, not using the onboard transponders, and not maintaining radio contact with the regional air traffic control centre.
On April 8 NATO fighter aircraft conducting the NATO Air Policing Mission were scrambled to intercept two Su-27s flying out of Kaliningrad into international airspace and then back. The aircraft had no flight plans, their onboard transponders were off and the crews were not maintaining radio communication with the regional air traffic control centre. In the course of the same scramble NATO jets also intercepted one Tu-134 flying from mainland Russia to Kaliningrad via international airspace. It had a prefiled flight plan, its onboard transponder was on, the crew maintained radio communication with the regional air traffic control centre.
Photo credit: MoD / A. Pliadis
