Finland and Sweden carried out their first joint operation to intercept a Russian military aircraft over the Gulf of Finland, marking a new step in Nordic airspace cooperation.
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said Thursday’s mission demonstrated how the countries’ Quick Reaction Alert partnership can detect, track and protect their shared airspace.
“It is a concrete expression of the readiness and trust we have built together – and an expression of the strength in the Nordic, Nordic-Baltic, and broader Nato cooperation in our part of the world,” Kristersson wrote in a post on X today.
He added: “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.”
According to the Finnish Air Force, aircraft from both nations located and identified a Russian formation that included a transport aircraft alongside several fighter jets.
The Gulf of Finland forms part of the wider Baltic Sea region, where vigilance has increased after gas pipeline disruptions, airspace incursions and repeated drone sightings since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Across Europe, concern is also mounting over the possibility that Vladimir Putin could be considering military action against other European nations.
Both Finland and Sweden abandoned decades of military non-alignment and applied to join Nato after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Finland and Sweden said today they had scrambled fighter jets to intercept and identify Russian military aircraft
The Finnish Air Force said jets from both countries tracked and identified Russian aircraft, including a transport plane and several fighter jets
Finland and Sweden joined Nato after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022
Norway, Iceland and Denmark were already members of Nato, along with the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
The joint interception came as Denmark’s Defence Intelligence Service, known as the DDIS, warned on Thursday that the threat of Russian military action against Nato members was increasing. It described a full-scale invasion as “highly unlikely”, although still possible.
European governments remain on alert for potential Russian interference, amid fears that Moscow could turn its attention toward countries supporting Kyiv as the war in Ukraine continues into its fifth year.
Thomas Ahrenkiel, head of the DDIS, said the agency saw a “low but growing risk that Russia will launch a limited military attack against one or several Nato countries bordering Russia”. He was speaking at a news conference presenting an updated assessment of the Russian threat.
However, he said the intelligence service continued to judge it “highly unlikely that Russia would see any interest in invading a Nato country, but we cannot rule it out”.
The latest assessment also warned that Russia was likely to expand its use of so-called hybrid attacks against Western targets.
The DDIS said previous operations had largely focused on spreading fear and eroding public backing for military and other assistance to Ukraine.
More recently, however, such activity has increasingly been designed to disrupt the flow of aid itself, including alleged sabotage targeting defence manufacturers and rail shipments carrying military equipment.
The agency said it expected Russia to step up these operations, potentially including “destructive cyber attacks that cripple critical societal functions”.
The agency also said there was a low risk of a limited military attack even if the war in Ukraine continued, as an attempt to redirect European resources away from Ukraine.
‘A limited military attack would be a desperate move on Russia’s part and, like the intensified hybrid attacks, could potentially take place in the coming months,’ the agency said.
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said the operation showed how the so-called Quick Reaction Alert cooperation could monitor and safeguard both countries’ airspace
Danish Soldiers take part in a Nato military exercise
However, the DDIS also noted that ‘a build-up of forces would require several months of preparation and will be difficult to conceal’.
Mr Ahrenkiel also stressed that although ‘Russia’s increased willingness to take risks has consequences for the security situation in Denmark’, notably through hybrid attacks, this does not mean that Russia is going to attack the Scandinavian country.
‘We do not expect a conventional Russian military attack against Denmark,’ he said.
Denmark’s national intelligence and security service PET meanwhile said in a statement that Russia’s increased willingness to take risks ‘may lead to an increase in both Russian influence activity and the espionage and sabotage threat in Denmark’.
PET had previously indicated that sabotage threats primarily target the defence industry and others directly linked to the military support of Ukraine.