Sweden: Russian military planes briefly violated airspace
Posted January 24, 2019 4:43 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
COPENHAGEN — The Swedish military says a Russian reconnaissance plane escorted by two Russian fighter jets briefly violated Sweden’s air space on the country’s Baltic Sea coast.
The Swedish Armed Forces said Thursday that the IL 20 plane and two Sukhoi Su-27 Flanker aircraft flew Saturday south of the southern Sweden town of Karlshamn, some 135 kilometres (84 miles) northeast of the coastal city of Malmo.
The military said in a statement that the planes entered Swedish airspace without permission, and the episode had been reported to the Swedish government.
The incident comes at a time of growing military activity in the Baltic Sea region, with several reports of airspace violations by Russian military aircraft and an increased presence of Russian military vessels.
There was no immediate comment from Russia.
The Associated Press
