German jets chase down Russian spy plane over Baltic

German fighter jets intercepted a Russian spy aircraft east of Rügen on March 27 morning, escorting it out of NATO-adjacent airspace.

At 09:14 CEST, NATO's Combined Air Operation Centre detected "activity in the Kaliningrad area," Caliber.Az reports per German media. 

Just 12 minutes later, an alarm was raised at the Rostock-Laage Airbase in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.

Two Eurofighter jets were deployed for an emergency scramble to intercept the suspected Russian aircraft, which was heading towards German NATO airspace at the time.

By 09:45, the German pilots confirmed radar contact with the aircraft, and at 09:49, visual contact was established. The aircraft was escorted out of NATO-controlled airspace without incident.

Note that, since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the security landscape in the Baltic Sea region has undergone a significant transformation. New threats have emerged alongside traditional ones, and all Nordic-Baltic nations are now NATO members. This situation both requires and offers an opportunity for enhanced regional cooperation on security matters.

In 2024, Sweden is chairing the informal foreign and security cooperation frameworks between the Nordic and Baltic countries (NB8). The key priorities for this role are to bolster foreign and security policy collaboration in the region, maintain steadfast regional support for Ukraine, and ensure ongoing global backing for Ukraine.

By Aghakazim Guliyev