"Cat and cat" game: NATO jets intercept Russian aircraft near Baltic airspace

NATO fighter jets were scrambled from Lithuania this week to intercept Russian military aircraft flying near the alliance’s eastern flank, highlighting ongoing tensions between the Western military bloc and Moscow.

According to officials, French pilots stationed at Šiauliai Air Base responded to a NATO alert by rapidly deploying Rafale fighter jets. Within minutes of takeoff, the aircraft reached the Baltic Sea, where they first intercepted a Russian Il-20 reconnaissance plane before tracking additional Russian bombers and their fighter escorts operating near NATO airspace, the Associated Press reports.

The intercepted aircraft included Tu-22M3 strategic bombers, accompanied by Su-30 and Su-35 fighter jets. While the Russian planes remained in international airspace, their flight path brought them close to the coasts of several NATO members, including Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland, before turning back near Denmark.

Military officials said such encounters are frequent, forming part of NATO’s ongoing air-policing mission in the Baltic region. The alliance maintains a continuous rotational presence in the airspace of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, which do not have their own full-scale air defense capabilities.

“It’s a game of cat and mouse, or rather cat and cat,” said Lt. Col. Alexandre, commander of a French air force Rafale detachment deployed to Lithuania. “We watch each other, scrutinize each other and try to make sure that it doesn’t go any further.”

NATO commanders emphasise that the mission is intended to deter potential threats rather than provoke confrontation, amid strained relations with Russia following its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

During the operation, pilots from both sides maintained distance and did not engage, instead observing and recording each other’s movements.

NATO typically scrambles aircraft in response to Russian flights that do not use transponders, fail to file flight plans, or do not communicate with civilian air traffic control.

By Sabina Mammadli