This Saturday, as reported by half brother Military Zone, Sweden said its fighter jets intercepted a Russian military plane after it violated the country’s airspace east of the Baltic island of Gotland. This was declared by the Swedish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Tobias Billstrom, who described the violation of airspace as “unacceptable” and stressed that officials from the Russian embassy in Stockholm would be summoned.
The Swedish armed forces reported in the statement that Gripen planes were sent to intercept the Russian SU-24, after it did not respond to the radio warning from military air traffic controllers. According to the head of the Swedish air force, Jonas Wikman, the incident showed a lack of respect for Sweden’s territorial integrity.
“On Friday afternoon, an SU-24 fighter jet violated Swedish airspace east of the southern tip of Gotland. The Swedish combat air command sent a verbal warning to the Russian plane. As the warning was not heeded and the plane did not divert its route, it was ejected from Swedish airspace by two JAS-39 Gripen,” the statement states. Likewise, the text specifies that the violation was “brief.”
The list of incidents between Russia and Sweden
Notably, Sweden reopened its military guard on Gotland in 2018, following years of reduced military spending that led to its closure in 2004. Additionally, the military stated that the last time similar violations by Russian aircraft occurred was in 2022, when two SU-27 and two SU-24 also violated its airspace near Gotland. In line, neighboring Finland confirmed separately on Friday that it suspected four Russian military planes had violated its airspace on June 10.
Although the Russian embassy in Sweden did not even respond to a request for comment from the press, Billstrom confirmed to Reuters that they are “in close contact with allies and partners regarding developments in our immediate area.”
For now, the incident occurs in the middle of exercises between NATO allies taking place in the Baltic Sea, with Sweden being the newest member of the alliance.
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