[Regnum] Aircraft from six NATO countries were deployed to intercept two Russian Tu-22M3 long-range bombers, as well as the Su-30 and Su-35 fighter jets escorting them, over the Baltic Sea. This was reported on April 21 by the American television channel ABC News.
According to the channel, French Rafale, Swedish JAS 39 Gripen, as well as fighter jets from Finland, Poland, Denmark and Romania were put on alert.
Sweden noted that its Air Force followed Russian bombers near Gotland Island, maintaining visual contact until they reached the Danish island of Bornholm. The Russian Tu-22M3s then turned around and headed back.
On April 20, the Russian Ministry of Defense confirmed that Tu-22M3 long-range bombers of the Russian Aerospace Forces had carried out a scheduled flight in the airspace over the neutral waters of the Baltic Sea. They were escorted by Su-35 aircraft crews. The flight lasted over four hours. At certain stages of the flight, the Russian bombers were escorted by foreign fighter jets. All flights by Russian Aerospace Forces aircraft are conducted in strict compliance with international airspace regulations, the Ministry of Defense emphasized.