Fighter jets waving at Nato and Alaska incursions: Every time Russia has tested the airspace of Ukraine’s allies
Russian pilots who entered Estonian airspace waved at Italian pilots flying Nato’s most advanced jets during a tense 12-minute standoff, according to reports.
Initiating a routine interception, the Nato pilots rocked their wings from side to side. In response the Russian pilots mirrored the manoeuvre and gave a friendly wave, according to the Telegraph.
The Italians then trailed the pilots to the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad for an unprecedented 12 minutes.
During this time, the three Russian nuclear-capable MiG-31 jets and two Italian F-35 pilots had no radio contact with each other.
While the manoeuvre was carried out peacefully, Donald Trump has warned that Russian incursions into Nato airspace could spell “big trouble” for Moscow.
It is the latest in a series of provocations by the Russian military, which has repeatedly sent drones into Poland and Romania as Moscow argues that Nato is already “fighting against Russia”.
“Nato is providing direct and indirect support to the Kyiv regime,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters. “It can be said with absolute certainty that Nato is fighting against Russia.”
As the war in Ukraine intensifies, The Independent looks at the ways Russia is expanding the conflict to involve more countries.
The Danish prime minister said Russian involvement in overnight drone incursions near four airports in Denmark could not be ruled out. Russia denied involvement.
Denmark’s defence minister warned the drone activity was the “work of a professional actor”, just two days after the country’s main hub was shut down in response to sightings that alarmed defence officials.
Copenhagen is now considering whether to invoke Nato Article 4, which would formally request talks over the incident, a move taken by Poland and Estonia following repeated Russian incursions into their airspace in recent weeks.
Three Russian fighter jets staged an incursion into Estonian airspace where they remained without permission for 12 minutes on Friday 19 September, the Estonian government has said.
Estonian foreign minister Margus Tsakhna said it was the fourth time that Russia has violated Estonian airspace this year, “but today’s incursion, involving three fighter aircraft entering our airspace, is unprecedentedly brazen”.
The foreign ministry said that the incursion involved three Russian MIG-31 fighters and took place over the Gulf of Finland. The Russian charge d’affaires was summoned and given a protest note, a ministry statement said.
