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World

Finland and Sweden scramble fighter jets to intercept Russian aircraft over the Gulf of Finland

Finnish and Swedish Quick Reaction Alert jets were scrambled on Thursday to identify a Russian detachment — including MiG-31 and Su-30 fighters — in international airspace over the Gulf of Finland, in the two air forces' first joint identification mission.

By James Calloway · · 1 min read

Finland’s air force said on Friday that Swedish and Finnish fighter jets had been scrambled to identify Russian military aircraft flying over the Gulf of Finland.

The two countries’ Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) jets were scrambled on Thursday. They identified a Russian detachment consisting of a Tu-134 transport aircraft, MiG-31 fighter jets and Su-30 fighter jets “in international airspace over the Gulf of Finland,” the air force said.

According to the Finnish military, it was the first joint operational “identification mission” for the two air forces. The mission fell under the broader Finnish-Swedish framework for monitoring and safeguarding both countries’ airspace, the Finnish air force said in a statement.

Swedish prime minister Ulf Kristersson commented on the operation on X, saying: “The Baltic Sea has never been as vulnerable as it is now – but it has also never been better protected than it is right now.”

Tensions over the Baltic Sea have risen sharply in recent years, and Nordic jets are regularly scrambled to intercept Russian aircraft. In the wake of Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Sweden and Finland both dropped decades of military non-alignment and joined NATO.

The incident came on the same day that the head of the Danish Defence Intelligence Service, Thomas Ahrenkiel, said the risk of Russian military action against NATO countries was growing. Speaking at a press conference in Copenhagen, he said his agency still considered an outright invasion “highly unlikely” but said it could not be ruled out.

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