Russian plane in the sky of Sweden
The Swedish military said a Russian plane was spotted in its airspace on Friday. Two fighter planes were mobilized.
The Swedish Air Combat Command warned the Russian plane with a “verbal call” before two fighter planes took off. (Illustrative image)
Corner stone
“A SU-24 fighter jet violated Swedish airspace east of the southern tip of Jutland,” the Swedish Armed Forces said in a statement. The Air Combat Command warned the Russian plane with a “verbal call” before two fighter planes took off.
“Because the warning was not heeded and the aircraft did not veer off course, it was ejected from Swedish airspace by two JAS-39 Gripen fighter aircraft,” according to the text, which also specifies that the violation was “brief.” .
The island of Gotland is located less than 350 kilometers from the heavily militarized Russian enclave of Kaliningrad. According to Swedish military doctrine, whoever controls this island is able to largely control air and sea movements in the Baltic Sea.
Growing tensions
This incident comes three months after the Scandinavian country joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and after two centuries of neutrality and then military non-alignment.
As a reminder, the annexation of Crimea by Russia in 2014 prompted Sweden to strengthen its army again. Then Moscow's invasion of Ukraine in 2022 led to Sweden's historic decision to join NATO.
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France Press agency
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