"Yesterday, #F16 @beairforce, currently deployed in the #Baltic Region to safeguard the integrity of @NATO airspace, intercepted #Russian Flanker Jets flying w/o flight plan," the Belgian Air Force wrote on Twitter late on Wednesday.
The incident followed a reported flight of two Russian Su-24 Fencer bombers over a Belgian Navy ship in the Baltic Sea area last Thursday.
The Russian Armed Forces, in their turn, repeatedly report about foreign reconnaissance aircraft attempting to cross into the Russian airspace.
Hier, les #F16s @beairforce, actuellement déployés dans la région de la Baltique afin de préserver l’intégrité de l’espace aérien @NATO, ont intercepté des avions de combat Flanker russes sans plan de vol. Protéger votre sécurité, c'est notre mission @BelgiumDefence, pic.twitter.com/76KFAj2nY2
— Belgian Air Force🇧🇪 (@BeAirForce) 29 ноября 2018 г.
READ MORE: Belgian F-16 Incident May Be Caused by Accidental Firing From Jet — Reports
In late October, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said that Russian jets had been scrambled over 120 times since the beginning of the year to prevent foreign aircraft from illegally entering the Russian airspace.
Moscow has repeatedly said that its military aircraft always conduct their flights in accordance with international law and avoid illegally crossing other states' borders.
