Russian planes were heading from Kaliningrad.
Two Dutch F-35 fighter jets intercepted a group of three Russian warplanes near Poland.
This happened when the planes approached the Polish NATO area of responsibility from Kaliningrad, writes Reuters with reference to the statement of the Ministry of Defense of the Netherlands.
“After identification, it turned out to be three planes: the Russian Il-20M Kut-A, which was accompanied by two Su-27 Flankers. The F-35s of the Netherlands accompanied the order from afar and handed it over to NATO partners,” the statement said.
We will remind, at the end of January, the Netherlands sent eight F-35 fighter jets to Poland. Half of them in February and March, four will be used to protect NATO’s airspace over Eastern Europe, the so-called Air Policing. The other four F-35s are participating in a training program with allies.
The situation on the border between Poland and the Kaliningrad region
In the summer of 2022, Poland announced that it wanted to build a surveillance system on the border with Russia’s Kaliningrad region. Soon after, Russia flew three MiG-31 supersonic aircraft with Kinzhal missiles to the Kaliningrad region.
Although the Polish authorities assess the situation on the border with the Kaliningrad region of the Russian Federation as calm and stable, they have not given up on plans to separate themselves from the Russian enclave. The day before, it became known that Poland will begin the construction of an electronic barrier on the border with the Kaliningrad region already in the spring.
