Swedish and Finnish fighter jets intercept Russian warplanes over the Baltic

BarcelonaSeveral Finnish and Swedish fighter jets intercepted a group of Russian warplanes flying over the Baltic Sea this Thursday, according to the Finnish Air Force. This incident adds to the numerous cases of Russian aircraft and drones that have recently violated or approached the airspace of NATO countries. In this case, the Russian squadron, consisting of a Tu-134 transport plane and several MiG-31 and Su-30 fighter jets, was flying in international airspace over the Gulf of Finland.

This identification mission, in which Finnish F/A-18 Hornet and Swedish JAS39 Gripen aircraft participated, was part of the two countries' quick reaction alert service, which aims to ensure the surveillance and protection of their territorial integrity. The operation is significant because it is the first joint one carried out by the two Nordic countries, which have been part of the Atlantic Alliance since 2022, as a consequence of Russia's war against Ukraine. A month ago, Sweden and Finland agreed to strengthen their cooperation in air defense on NATO's northern and eastern flank, taking into account the increase in hybrid threats from Russia.

The Baltic Sea region is one of those on high alert following several incidents related to sabotage against gas pipelines and underwater cables, airspace violations, and drone sightings. NATO aircraft takeoffs for surveillance and reconnaissance over Eastern European airspace have already become a regular occurrence: in July, alert sorties increased by 250% compared to last year.

Swedish Prime Minister, Ulf Kristersson, highlighted that the operation has served to demonstrate that cooperation with Finland is necessary and works: "It is a concrete expression of the readiness and trust we have built together, and an expression of the strength of Nordic, Nordic-Baltic, and NATO cooperation in general in our part of the world," he wrote on X. He said that the Baltic Sea "has never been as vulnerable as it is now," but remarked that "it has also never been as well prepared as it is now."

Growing alarm in Europe

Incidents involving Russian planes and drones are not new; they are part of the so-called hybrid war against Europe, but various European leaders and intelligence services have increased alert messages in recent weeks. The turning point was an incident in early August: a drone loaded with explosives impacted a Ukrainian cargo plane at Leipzig airport without exploding, in one of the most direct sabotage attempts recorded to date in a key NATO logistics hub and deep within European territory. After nearly a month of investigations, on September 1st, Germany directly blamed the Russian intelligence services for it.

The very next day, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and the Secretary General of the Atlantic Alliance, Mark Rutte, met urgently in Brussels and promised to increase pressure against Moscow. Since then, there has been a succession of statements from European leaders calling for the threat to be taken seriously. Just a week ago, the Polish Prime Minister, Donald Tusk, was the first to warn that Moscow is planning missile attacks against border countries, and the next day it was the French President, Emmanuel Macron, who asserted that the Russian threat to Europeans has intensified and announced a protection plan. This Thursday, they were joined by the Danish intelligence services, who stated that Russia will likely intensify its hybrid war in the coming months and added that a military attack against a NATO country cannot be ruled out.

This week, some European leaders took advantage of the United Nations General Assembly in New York to insist on the warning message. The President of Latvia, Edgars Rinkevics, warned that these threats are more serious than is perceived. "Sometimes we call them hybrid threats, but that sounds as innocent as hybrid cars. In reality, these threats to international peace and security are as dangerous as conventional wars," he warned. The German Foreign Minister, Johann Wadephul, also referred to it, saying that Russia's hybrid attacks against countries that support Ukraine "have reached a new level".

Various published reports, from intelligence services and think tanks, agree that hybrid attacks attributed to Russia have increased in number and have also become more dangerous. And in recent days, several countries have put on the table one of the potentially most serious possibilities, that of a false flag attack on a NATO member. This is raised by the report of the Danish intelligence service published this Thursday, which pointed out that the risk of this happening is "low but growing". Donald Tusk's warning also followed this line, and Lithuania has also referred to intelligence reports warning of this possibility.