In NATO, they said that in 2021, the alliance planes most often flew out due to the fact that Russian military aircraft flew “too close to the airspace of member countries.” Such details revealed AP.
“NATO stated that 290 of about 370 missions in 2021 were held in response to the actions of Russian aircraft,” the agency said. NATO added that most of the tasks for the interception were held in the region of the Baltic Sea near Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
In the statement of the Alliance, it is indicated that the interceptions passed without incident, NATO aircraft took off to identify the approaching aircraft and accompany it until it leaves the zone. “Very little intercepted airplanes entered the airspace of the Allies,” writes agency.
At the same time, the number of interceptions of Russian aircraft decreased compared to 2020. Then the alliance performed 350 flights due to the Russian aircraft.
Previously, Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin warned that the targeted provocations of NATO near Russian borders can, with a high probability of threatening armed conflict. According to him, recently, the Alliance moved to the practice of direct provocations associated with a high risk of outstanding into an armed confrontation.