Baltic Sea | Russian planes flew over training Swedish ships and "behaved unprofessionally"

Baltic Sea|The Russian air and naval forces were more present than expected in the NATO-led Baltops war exercise in the Baltic Sea.

The Russians fighter jets flew close to international ships training in the Baltic Sea in mid-June, the Swedish Broadcasting Corporation SVT tells.

Russian Sukhoi Su-24 and Su-27 planes flew over Swedish and international warships several times. The ships took part in the Baltops exercise in the international waters of the Baltic Sea, Swedish Defense Forces Operations Manager Carl-Johan Edström says according to SVT.

Baltops is an annual NATO-led military exercise in the Baltic Sea, which has become NATO’s inland sea with the NATO membership of Finland and Sweden. The training ended last week.

Although The presence of Russia during the exercise is usual, this year Russia was present more visibly than expected, says Edström.

According to Edström, the Russian planes “were flying a little closer than normal”. They did not cause dangerous situations or break international rules, he says.

Edström does not say in more detail how close the Russian planes flew to the training ships.

In practice according to France, which was involved, the machines “behaved unprofessionally”. They flew very low and close to the training ships.

“It can be dangerous, but mostly they do this to send a message to the NATO countries that they have [Venäjällä] has a strong presence in the region”, tells commander of the French aircraft carrier FS Mistral For Olivier Rouss for SVT.

According to Roussille, the exercise also caught the attention of the Russian Navy.

“The Baltic Sea is a strategic area, so during Baltops we were in contact with both Russian warplanes and warships,” Roussille said.

Unprofessional The flyover of the Russian planes is also filmed by a US Navy captain Jason Tross. Tross serves as a spokesman for the US 6th Fleet, which is responsible for organizing the Baltops exercise.

“Two Russian aircraft acted unprofessionally when they flew close to the USS Wasp while the ship was operating in the Baltic Sea during the Baltops exercise,” Tross said.

Previously During the Baltops exercise, Russian fighters offended Swedish and Finnish airspace.