Russian jet capable of carrying guided bombs performing ‘dangerous maneuvers’ near Nato territory

Nato was forced to deploy forces to intercept a Russian Su-34 bomber performing ‘dangerous maneuvers’ over the Baltic Sea.

Poland’s defence minister Wladysław Kosiniak-Kamysz confirmed that a pair of fighter jets were scrambled after the joint operational command for Alliance forces in Europe issued the order late last night.

He told reporters: ‘The Russian Federation’s Su-24 aircraft was performing dangerous manoueuvres.’

He said such manoueuvres ‘show what the intentions of this action are, that this is not an accidental action, but an intentional action’.

The minister added that ‘such incidents have already taken place in recent weeks’.

The Russian Su-34 plane – which is capable of carrying guided bombs and precision missiles – was intercepted and ‘successfully deterred’ while in international waters.

The incident took place near the heavily militarized Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave wedged between Poland and Lithuania.

Russian fighter jets often fly without transponders switched on, without submitting flight plans and without contacting air traffic control.

This is the latest in a series of Russian provocations near Nato airspace.

Earlier this week, Poland said a sanctioned Russian ship was performing ‘suspicious maneuvers’ in the Baltic Sea near the power cable connecting Poland and Sweden.

‘A Russian ship from the “shadow fleet” covered by sanctions performed suspicious maneuvers near the power cable connecting Poland with Sweden,’ prime minister Donald Tusk wrote on X.

‘After the effective intervention of our military, the ship sailed to one of the Russian ports.’

‘Shadow fleet’ refers to vessels used by Russia to ship oil, arms and grains in violation of international sanctions imposed after the Ukraine invasion.

Speaking later to reporters, Kosiniak-Kamysz said a patrol flight scared the ship off and said the Polish Navy’s ORP Heweliusz was sailing to the scene.

The minister said: ‘This shows how dangerous the times we live in are, how serious the situation in the Baltic Sea is.

‘Since Sweden and Finland joined Nato, the Baltic Sea has become a key marine area, where the largest number of incidents occur, the most common incidents related to cable breaks… and sabotage.’

He vowed a ‘firm response’ from Poland to any attack on Baltic Sea infrastructure.

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