The message of British media was same as always: UK RAF Eurofighter Typhoon jets once again "intercepted" a sneaky Russian plane flying above Estonia, and the heroic action of British pilots doing the noble job of protecting the airspace of smaller and weaker Baltic states might deserve some praise.
Or maybe not, as the actual turn of events was somewhat different. The so-called "intercepted" Russian plane, which was identified as the Ilyushin IL-20 Coot, was flying its regular patrol route in international airspace above the Gulf of Finland.
According to the international law on airspace, a nation's airspace is considered to be 12 nautical miles from the coastline of the nation. Everything else that does not fall within the territory of any particular nation, including the airspace above oceans and seas, is known as international airspace.
Therefore, the British fighter jets could not have "intercepted" the Russian plane flying in international airspace. The only thing RAF pilots could have done was monitor the Russian reconnaissance plane to make sure it did not violate Estonian airspace.
NATO has been policing the skies over the Baltic states since 2004, when Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia joined the military alliance. The three Baltic States do not possess planes fit for air policing.
UK Secretary of State for Defense Michael Fallon tried to sugarcoat the incident:
"Air interceptions like this underline the vital importance of the UK's contribution to the Baltic Air Policing mission."
Well, at least someone is keeping busy.
