Russia keeps eyes on 9-nation winter exercise
NATO scrambled fighter jets from Evenes airbase on Monday after a pair of Russian aircraft came close to the ongoing Joint Viking 2025 exercise.
The two Tu-142 anti-submarine, maritime patrol planes came from the Russian Northern Fleet's Kipelovo airbase in Vologda region and flew out over international airspace of the Barents Sea and Norwegian Sea in the morning of March 10.
Outside Troms region, the Russian aircraft were shadowed by a pair of Norwegian F-35 fighter jets, operating inside the Arctic Circle on identification mission of NATO. Such missions are known as quick reaction alert (QRA).
Appearance of Russian planes is routine when there are multinational forces on exercise in the north, the Norwegian Armed Forces states.
Joint Viking 2025 involves nine NATO member states with more than 10,000 soldiers.
The training on defending northern Norway takes place in all domains; on land, at sea and in the air. Several NATO submarines and warships are sailing along the coast, but it is unclear if the Russian surveillance aircraft were able to collect information or if the flight-mission was more of a military signaling.
Before Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, military inspectors sent by Moscow on Norwegian invitation used to follow NATO exercises in accordance with the Vienna Document enforced by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).
There are currently de facto no European-Russian arms control regimes.
