Four Russian fighter jets briefly violated Swedish airspace east of the Baltic Sea island of Gotland on Wednesday, the military said, amid Russian-Western tensions over the war in Ukraine.
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“In the current context, we take this event very seriously. This is an irresponsible and unprofessional action on the Russian side,” the Swedish military protested in a statement.
Two Sukhoi Su-27s and two Sukhoi Su-24s violated the airspace, and Swedish Gripen planes were able to document the facts, she said.
“It shows that our preparation is good. We are on the spot to ensure the territorial integrity and the Swedish borders”, argued the staff.
Joint exercises with Finnish fighter planes took place this Wednesday in Gotland, according to Swedish media.
The island, which has a strategic position in the middle of the Baltic Sea and is just over 300 kilometers from the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad, had welcomed Swedish reinforcements in January, during the first tensions around Ukraine.
Both Sweden and Finland, NATO partners, but officially non-aligned, saw the debate on their NATO membership revived by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, to benefit from the mutual protection defined by article 5.
Russia had reaffirmed on Friday, the day following the start of the invasion, that the accession of one or both countries “would have serious military and political repercussions”.
Violations by Russian planes of the airspace of the two countries occur from time to time, but remain rare.
