NATO warplanes intercept Russian nuclear bombers over the Baltic

NATO warplanes intercepted two Russian nuclear-capable bombers over the Baltic today as Sir Keir Starmer met with world leaders and troops stationed in Estonia. Two Tu-22M3 bombers were buzzed by NATO planes during a five-hour flight over ‘neutral waters’ in the region.

Russia claimed its supersonic Tupolev bombers, which have been used to drop conventional weapons throughout the war in Ukraine, were on a ‘planned flight’. The Russian Ministry of Defence said: ‘All flights of aircraft of the Russian Aerospace Forces are carried out in strict accordance with international rules for the use of airspace.’

‘At certain stages of the route, long-range bombers were escorted by fighters of foreign countries,’ it acknowledged. The bombers were reported to have been escorted by Russian Su-30SM and Su-27 fighters. ‘All flights of aircraft of the Russian Aerospace Forces are carried out in strict accordance with international rules for the use of airspace.’

The Russians did not specify the identity of NATO planes buzzing its nuclear bombers, nor refer to Sir Keir’s visit to Estonia. Two Tu-160 strategic missile carriers earlier made a separate planned flight over the Arctic Ocean, East Siberian and Laptev Seas, Russian media reported. Flightradar meanwhile picked up American reconnaissance aircraft taking off from the Black Sea coast. Today’s buzzing over the Baltic was the most recent interaction between Russian and NATO warplanes.

Lithuania’s ministry of defence reported that NATO fighter jets were scrambled on December 11, identifying two Il-20 reconnaissance aircraft and one Il-20 aircraft. The planes were allegedly flying in international airspace from Russia’s Kaliningrad Oblast without filing a flight plan, and with the onboard transponder switched off. In September, NATO scrambled patrol aircraft when four Russian military aircraft were spotted over the Baltic, near the Latvian border.

The Latvian military said they had identified two Su-30SM fighters and two Tu-22M3 bombers. In the first eight months of 2024, Russian military aircraft were recorded flying over the Baltic Sea near Latvian territorial waters 109 times, Ukrainian media reported . Estonia is seen as the most vulnerable Baltic state to invasion by Putin due to its location and small size. It has the most successful economy of the former Soviet states.

Sir Keir Starmer was attending the 2024 Joint Expeditionary Force summit in Tallinn, along with leaders from northern European nations. He also visited British troops stationed near the Russian border to express gratitude for their service and reaffirm the UK’s commitment to NATO and regional security. Downing Street announced £35 million of emergency support to help Ukraine repair its energy grid which Russia bombed in a way aimed at disconnecting it from back-up supplies from EU countries.

The Prime Minister annnounced the extra funding for Kyiv alongside fresh sanctions against Vladimir Putin’s ‘shadow fleet’ carrying illicit Russian oil. While meeting European allies in Estonian capital Tallinn, the PM said new sanctions against 20 vessels would ‘add further pressure to Putin’s stalling war economy’. Ocean Faye, Andaman Skies and Mianzimu, which have each carried more than four million barrels of Russian oil in 2024, were among the 20 ships targeted.

Sanctions have also been slapped on 2Rivers DMCC and 2Rivers PTE LTD, which Downing Street branded ‘key lynchpins in enabling the trading of Putin’s precious oil’. No10 said the UK had now sanctioned more than 100 ships for transporting Russian energy, including 93 oil tankers, more than any other nation.

Russia meanwhile today announced that its first heavy drone had been given clearance for flights. The VT-440m heavy drone ‘has become the first one in Russia with the airworthiness certificate’, the St Petersburg Committee for Industrial Policy, Innovations and Trade said today, as reported by TASS.

The drone reportedly weighs more than 30kg and can bear a maximum takeoff weight of 500kg, ‘making it possible to significantly expand the range of carried cargo’, TASS reports.

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