German Air Force fighter jets were scrambled to intercept a Russian Il-20M reconnaissance aircraft over the Baltic Sea on the morning of Friday 27 June.

Source: European Pravda; German tabloid Bild

Details: The Russian Il-20M took off from Kaliningrad with its transponder switched off and without a flight plan filed. It then headed westwards directly towards international airspace near Poland and Germany.

NATO radar systems soon detected the Russian aircraft.

NATO alerted the Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) team of Germany’s Bundeswehr about the Russian aircraft incident. Two Eurofighter jets were sent to intercept the Russian Il-20M.

About 100 km from the German coast, the Eurofighter jets established visual contact and photographed the Russian aircraft, which did not change course even afterwards.

The Russian aircraft initially continued flying west and changed course to the north, only 40 km from the island of Usedom. Thus, there was no violation of German airspace.

At 11:10, the German Eurofighters returned safely to Laage. Before that, one aircraft had been pursuing a Russian reconnaissance aircraft that flew past the Danish island of Bornholm in a northeasterly direction.

This was the ninth such operation since the beginning of 2025.

Background:In early June, British fighter jets based in Poland intercepted two Russian reconnaissance aircraft. Earlier, NATO air policing fighters stationed in the Baltic states were scrambled three times to identify and escort Russian aircraft that had violated flight regulations.

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