Two Russian warplanes loaded with nuclear weapons violated Swedish airspace earlier in March, according to information provided to news program TV4 Nyheter, Report informs referring to Euractiv.
A total of four Russian aircraft violated Swedish airspace off Gotland, when Finland and Sweden were conducting a joint military exercise in the Baltic Sea. According to TV4, the Russian action was a deliberate act aimed at intimidating Sweden.
On the day of the violation, the Swedish Armed Forces published pictures of the Russian planes, two SU 27 fighters and two SU 24 attack planes, which, according to TV4, took off from the Russian airbase at Kaliningrad.
The Swedish Armed Forces did not comment because it is classified information. However, they made clear that the violation itself must have been deliberate.
“We reckon it was a deliberate act. Which is very serious, especially as it is a belligerent country,” Air Force Chief Carl-Johan Edström has said.
The warplanes were in Swedish airspace for about a minute. The Swedish Air Force deployed two JAS 39 Gripen aircraft, which were able to remove the intruders and take pictures of them.