NATO Confirms Tracking Russian Aircraft Over Baltic Sea On Tuesday

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 13th August, 2019) NATO jets were scrambled on Tuesday to identify a Russian aircraft that closely approached the Allied airspace, a NATO official told Sputnik.

"A Russian aircraft, escorted by at least one Russian fighter jet, was tracked over the Baltic Sea earlier today," the official said.

"Jets from NATO's Baltic Air Policing mission scrambled to identify the aircraft which flew close to Allied airspace," he stressed, adding that once identification of the aircraft had taken place, the NATO jets returned to their base.

The Russian Defense Ministry said earlier that a NATO F-18 combat jet attempted to approach a plane carrying Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu over the Baltic Sea, but it was forced away by two Su-27 fighters escorting the minister's aircraft.