Russian fighters had been scrambled four times in order to prevent foreign planes from trespassing over the past week, the data showed. The Russian airspace has not been violated, according to the outlet.
"A significant increase in NATO reconnaissance activity in the Baltics and the Black Sea region has been recorded. This year alone, the aircraft of the Russian Aerospace Forces have been alerted to intercept possible violators of the state border more than 120 times," the minister said at the Russia-Belarus joint military panel.
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Over the past years, the NATO members have been increasing their military build-up in Eastern Europe and the Baltic countries, citing the need for protection from alleged Russian aggression. Moscow has repeatedly stated it would never attack any NATO ally. According to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, the Western military alliance is aware of this Russian stance but uses alleged Russian aggression as a pretext for boosting its military build-up near the Russian borders.
However, a security source has told Sputnik that Russian vigilance indicates that stealth technologies are not effective against Russian air defenses.
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