Over a dozen Russian aircraft were caught flying outside the country’s airspace in three different parts of Europe this week, prompting fears of an impending World War 3.
Eight jets were intercepted above the North Sea; seven were intercepted above the Baltic Sea; and four were intercepted above the Black Sea.
“These sizable Russian flights represent an unusual level of air activity over European airspace,” NATO said in a statement.
The largest contingent was intercepted by Norwegian aircraft, prompting six of the jets to split off and fly back to Russia. But two continued to fly above the Norwegian coastline, prompting NATO planes in the United Kingdom to track them.
Those two jets later flew back to Russia, reported ABC.
“Scrambles and intercepts are standard procedure when an unknown aircraft approaches NATO airspace,” the NATO release said. “However, such flights pose a potential risk to civil aviation given that the Russian military often do not file flight plans, or use their on-board transponders.”
Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin says that the United States isn’t a threat to Russia.
