French warplanes carried out 11 missions over the past week as part of a NATO mission to guard the airspace of the Baltic states, a spokesman for the French Armed Forces announced in Paris on Thursday, describing the Russian incursions as exceeding the usual number of "provocations." The intercepted aircraft included armed fighters, reconnaissance and transport aircraft, which were flying without flight plans or radio contact.
Published on: 04/06/2026 - 18:17 Last updated: 04/06/2026 - 18:26
French armed forces spokesman Guillaume Vernet said Thursday that French warplanes launched 11 missions last week as part of a NATO mission to guard the airspace of the Baltic states, describing the incursions by Russian aircraft as a larger than usual number of "provocations."
The mission works to protect the airspace of the three Baltic countries - Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania - by deploying NATO fighter aircraft on a rotating basis, to fill the gaps in the capabilities of these countries. Airplanes rush to intercept any unknown or non-compliant aircraft.
Vernet added at a weekly news conference that the unusual number of interceptions may indicate that Moscow is seeking to demonstrate its strength in the same week in which it hosted the annual St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.
Fears that the war in Ukraine will extend to NATO borders
He continued, "The French unit deployed on the mission to monitor the airspace in the Baltics carried out multiple interceptions of Russian military aircraft that were flying without flight plans or radio contact," adding that the aircraft that were intercepted included armed fighter aircraft, reconnaissance and transport aircraft.
These incidents follow a series of cases in which military drones strayed into the airspace of Finland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, raising fears that the war in Ukraine could extend to NATO's northern border with Russia.
France 24/Reuters
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