Published on
05/06/2026 - 10:26 GMT+2
French fighter jets intercepted 11 Russian aircraft over the past week as part of a NATO Air Policing mission along the alliance's eastern flank, a spokesperson for France's armed forces said on Thursday.
In an update on French military operations, Colonel Guillaume Vernet said French Rafale jets had been scrambled from Lithuania on multiple occasions to intercept Russian planes "operating without flight plans or radio contact".
The intercepted Russian aircraft included transport planes such as the Ilyushin Il-18 and Antonov An-12, as well as fighter jets and reconnaissance aircraft like the Sukhoi Su-24 and Antonov An-30.
