SWEDEN AND FINLAND JETS INTERCEPT RUSSIAN AIRCRAFT OVER GULF
Sweden and Finland scrambled fighter jets together to track a group of Russian military aircraft over the Gulf of Finland, in what Finland's air force described as the first joint "identification mission" carried out by the two countries. The Russian formation, spotted in international airspace, included a Tu-134 transport plane along with several MiG-31 and Su-30 fighter jets, according to the report. Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said the operation marked the first mission conducted under Finland and Sweden's new Quick Reaction Alert cooperation agreement, which allows each country's fighter aircraft to operate from the other's bases. The Russian embassies in Stockholm and Helsinki did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Reuters.
Kristersson said on X that the joint mission was "a concrete expression of the readiness and trust we have built together", pointing to what he called the strength of Nordic, Nordic-Baltic and wider NATO cooperation in the region. He said 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". The report notes that Baltic countries have raised their alert levels amid a rise in gas pipeline outages, drone sightings and airspace violations since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Finland and Sweden both joined NATO after that invasion, ending long-standing policies of military non-alignment.
The joint interception is presented by Swedish officials as evidence that defence cooperation between Helsinki and Stockholm has moved from agreement to practical operation. Kristersson tied the mission directly to the new Quick Reaction Alert arrangement between the two air forces, suggesting further joint operations could follow using shared basing rights. No response has yet come from Russian authorities regarding the aircraft's activity or the interception itself. The report does not specify any further planned joint missions beyond confirming this as the first under the new agreement.